OSHA citation issued for deadly San Francisco trench collapse

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A construction company failed to protect its workers when a trench collapsed in a San Francisco neighborhood and a 24-year-old worker was buried alive, state officials said.

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited the company, D'Arcy & Harty Construction, and ordered a $371,000 fine for the deadly Sept. 28, 2023 trench tragedy.

“On September 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,” OSHA officials wrote.

The victim was identified by the city's Chief Medical Examiner as Javier Romero of Alameda County. Eight feet of dirt and concrete collapsed on top of him in a trench. Romero was trapped in the trench for two hours before emergency crews were able to reach his body , the San Francisco Fire Department said.

OSHA investigators determined D'Arcy & Harty Construction, Inc. 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, such as a ladder.

During an earlier inspection conducted weeks before the worker was killed, the employer had been warned about these hazards, state officials said.

“In that earlier inspection, a Cal/OSHA investigator had told D'Arcy & Harty Construction Inc. 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,” investigators wrote.

Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said, “Excavations are known hazards and trenches must be evaluated, shored or shielded before workers enter to protect them. This worker's death is tragic because it was avoidable.”

OSHA cited D'Arcy & Harty Construction, Inc., for eight violations in the fatal September 28 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.

Before starting excavation work, the locations of all underground installations that may be encountered during excavation operations must be determined and the proper notification must be made. A permit from the local Cal/OSHA district office must be obtained before the construction of excavations five feet or deeper into which any person is required to descend.

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