A 16-year-old boy dies in a trench collapse in Virginia. A 47-year-old man dies in an excavation in New York City when a wall collapses on him.
Both deaths could have been prevented, investigators say.
Both deaths have resulted in manslaughter charges being filed this month against the contractors on the projects.
They are the latest examples of local law authorities willing to step in to seek criminal charges against contractors for employees working in unprotected trenches and excavations. In August, a Colorado contractor was charged with manslaughter in the death of a worker in a trench collapse in 2018. And on October 31, a Boston plumbing contractor was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of two workers in a cave-in 2016.
At 16, Spencer Lunde was the youngest of five children and was spending his summer doing construction work. On July 23, he was in a trench on a gas line project with another worker in a residential development in McLean, Virginia.
