ConDig (12-Apr-17).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the company at the center of a deadly trench collapse in Boston that killed two workers $1.47 million.

The agency found that Atlantic Drain Service Co. Inc. failed to provide basic safeguards and safety training for employees.

OSHA ruled that Atlantic Drain and owner Kevin Otto, who oversaw the work on the day of the fatalities, did not install a support system to protect employees in the trench from a cave-in and prevent the adjacent fire hydrant from collapsing. A ladder was also not provided so workers could exit the trench.

It also found that employees were not removed from the hazardous conditions in the trench and trained in how to identify and address hazards associated with trenching and excavation work.

OSHA has cited Atlantic Drain for a total of 18 willful, repeat, serious and other-than-serious violations of workplace safety standards.

The agency cited Atlantic Drain trenching worksites for similar hazards in 2007 and 2012.

Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks died in October last year when the trench they were working in collapsed, breaking an adjacent fire hydrant supply line and filling the trench with water in a matter of seconds.

In February, a Suffolk County grand jury indicted Atlantic Drain and Otto on two counts each of manslaughter and other charges in connection with the deaths.