Lawsuit reportedly filed in trench collapse that killed 2 workers
By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on October 05, 2016 at 7:23 AM, updated October 05, 2016 at 7:33 AM
BOONTON TOWNSHIP — The family of a 46-year-old man who was killed along with a co-worker in 2014 when a trench they were digging collapsed has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against their employer, the Daily Record reported.
Employees of Bednar Landscape Services were installing a French drain system at a residence on Rockaway Valley Road in Boonton Township on Oct. 1, 2014 when a trench collapsed, killing workers Oscar Portillo and Selvin Zelaya.
The wrongful-death lawsuit was filed on behalf of the estate of Portillo, with his brother, Juan Carlos Montoya, acting as administrator of the estate, according to the Daily Record.
The day after the collapse, an official with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that if employers follow OSHA standards and use protective systems "trenching deaths caused by cave-ins are completely preventable."
Bednar Landscape was later fined $77,000 after OSHA found its lack of cave-in protections led to the fatal trench collapse.
Fatal trench collapse in Boonton caused by company's indifference to safety, feds say
Oscar Portillo and Selvin Zelaya were killed on Oct. 1 when the French drain system they were helping to install at the historic James Dixon Farm on Rockaway Valley Road collapsed.
An investigation into the trench collapse found that Bednar was responsible for one willful safety violation and nine serious safety violations.
Federal labor authorities said the willful violation was for failing to install cave-in protections for the trench by adequately sloping it, or protecting it by shield or shoring.
Bednar's other serious violations included: failure to provide a ladder in the trench every 25 feet to allow safe exit; not having a competent person inspect the trench; failure to have utilities marked out; failure to provide head protection; and failure to train workers on the hazards of the chemicals with which they worked.
One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a small car, according to OSHA. The trench Portillo and Zelaya were working in was between nine- and 13-feet deep when it collapsed.
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By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Email the author
on April 01, 2015 at 4:58 PM, updated April 02, 2015 at 5:22 PM
BOONTON TOWNSHIP, NJ -- A landscaping company is facing up to $77,000 in fines after federal officials found its lack of cave-in protections led to a trench collapse that killed two workers in October, authorities said.
Employees of Bednar Landscape Services were installing a French drain system at a residence on Rockaway Valley Road on Oct. 1 when the trench in which they were working collapsed, killing workers Oscar Portillo and Selvin Zelaya.
An investigation into the trench collapse found that Bednar was responsible for one willful safety violation and nine serious safety violations, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a news release Wednesday.
"Without the required protections, these men had no way to escape and their heartbroken families are left to make sense of a needless tragedy," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Bednar management placed its employees in mortal danger by not using cave-in protections, and we believe these managers were plainly indifferent to the serious dangers their workers faced."
A representative of Bednar Landscape Services, which provides landscape, excavation and snow removal services, declined comment Wednesday afternoon.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Authorities said the willful violation was for failing to install cave-in protections for the trench by adequately sloping it, or protecting it by shield or shoring.
According to OSHA, Bednar's other serious violations include: failure to provide a ladder in the trench every 25 feet to allow safe exit; not having a competent person inspect the trench; failure to have utilities marked out; failure to provide head protection; and failure to train workers on the hazards of the chemicals with which they worked.
Hoffman, of OSHA, said one cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a small car. The trench Portillo and Zelaya were working in was between nine- and 13-feet deep when it collapsed.
The day after the men's deaths another OSHA official told NJ Advance Media that if employers follow OSHA standards and use protective systems "trenching deaths caused by cave-ins are completely preventable."
According to OSHA's trench excavation fact sheet, the administration requires that all trenches four feet or deeper have ladders, steps, ramps or other safety means for employees working in trench excavations. Unless the excavation is made in stable rock, OSHA mandates that protective systems be put in place for excavations five feet or deeper.
Protective systems can take the form of trench boxes that shield workers, hydraulic support structures that shore up the sides of the excavation, and sloping of the soil at an angle away from the excavation site, according to OSHA. The sides of the trench can also be benched so that the walls of the excavation form large steps away from the excavation site.
OSHA has proposed penalties of $77,000 against Bednar, which has 15 business days to either comply, request a conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the findings.