A California construction company has been issued proposed penalties totaling $157,500 following the death of one of its workers in a trench collapse in San Diego.
The fine comes a month after penalties totaling $530,000 were issued to two contractors after a worker was seriously injured in a trench collapse in San Mateo.
In the latest violations issued March 20, Joel Olea Gomez, 27, was in a 17-foot-deep trench in the Scripps Ranch community when a cave-in occurred at about 3 a.m. August 28. The men were working on a city water project for W.A. Rasic Construction of Long Beach.
According to CalOSHA, part of the trench collapsed. "The collapse caused a concrete pipe to be displaced, pinning and killing the employee."
Gomez was pronounced dead on the scene by San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel. His body was recovered at about 9 a.m. after an extensive operation.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited W.A. Rasic with three violations:
- Failure to provide adequate cave-in protection.
- Failure to conduct a proper inspection of the excavation site.
- Failure to implement an effective injury and illness prevention program.
“No worker should lose their life due to preventable safety failures,” Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said. “We will continue to enforce trench-safety regulations, hold employers accountable and work to ensure that safety standards are upheld to protect workers.”
According to online inspection records by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, W.A. Rasic has prior violations.
The company was fined December 22, 2021, after an accident in Bellflower, California, on a water and sewer project. The company was issued three serious violations with a total penalty of $39,370. The company contested the penalty, the results of which are not listed.
The company was also fined $6,935 for one serious and three “other” violations for an incident March 13, 2013, when a worker operating a vibratory pile driver was injured. According to the online OSHA report, the worker on a pipeline construction project in Yorba Linda was removing a pile from an excavation when the chain broke and the pile fell. The pile landed on the edge of the pile-driving machine and caused the worker multiple fractures and a concussion. The worker was hospitalized for four days.
A W.A. Rasic worker also died December 7, 2024, when hit by a truck driven by a co-worker in Bell, California. Jose Arias Barrientos, 57, of Los Angeles was welding metal in the street when he was struck. Police ruled the incident an accident. CalOSHA opened an investigation but appears not to have issued a citation.
