ConDig (06-Aug-24) An El Paso, Texas-based contractor has been fined $260,848 following the death of an employee in a trench collapse.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that CMD Endeavors Inc. allowed a pipe layer to work in an excavation without a proper protective system. When the trench collapsed, a piece of asphalt fell and severely injured the worker, who later died in an area hospital.

The agency issued citations to CMD Endeavors for one willful and one serious violation and two repeat violations related to its failures to provide adequate systems to prevent trench cave-ins, stop nearby materials from falling into the trench, ensure a trench exit within 25 feet, and support adjacent pavement.

“Despite repeated citations and warnings about the dangers of unprotected trenches, CMD Endeavors has ignored the hazards for nearly a decade, and now an employee has lost their life,” explained OSHA area director Diego Alvarado, Jr. in El Paso, Texas. 

“Rather than protecting its workers from this workplace hazard, the company did nothing to prevent this tragedy and leaves a family, friends and co-workers to grieve a needless loss.”

CMD Endeavors Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Last month, a Tennessee-based contractor was fined $83,885 for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards following a fatality on a project in New York.