California Construction Company Fined $371K for Fatal Trench Collapse

Cal/OSHA cited D’Arcy & Harty Construction Inc. $371,100 for failing to protect employees working in a trench excavation at a construction site in San Francisco.

On Sept. 28, 2023, an employee was replacing sewer parts inside the eight-foot-deep trench at 1101 Oak Street when the excavation collapsed, fatally burying the 24-year-old worker.

Cal/OSHA investigators determined D’Arcy & Harty Construction committed willful-serious safety violations by failing to provide a protective system for employees working in the trench and for failing to provide a means of escape in case of collapse, which the employer had reportedly been warned about weeks before.

A Cal/OSHA investigator reportedly told D’Arcy & Harty Construction that a trench excavation at 3475 22nd Street did not have adequate shoring and did not have a ladder or other means for workers to escape in case of collapse. The hazards at that San Francisco site were abated before work was able to continue.

Cal/OSHA cited D’Arcy & Harty Construction for eight violations total in the fatal incident, including three categorized as serious accident-related for failure to conduct daily safety inspections of the trench for evidence of possible cave-ins before an employee is allowed to work inside the trench, and failure to properly use equipment and materials to prevent employee exposure to excavation and trenching hazards.