Sound Construction Cited Again for Trench Safety Violations

By: Liz Hardaway
Source: The Hour, Norwalk, Conn. (TNS)

Dec. 18—An Easton contractor found to have violated several workplace safety regulations that led to an employee’s death has been cited again, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Sound Construction Inc. was cited for seven willful and four serious violations related to excavation hazards, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, said in a news release.

The citations, which carry proposed penalties of more than $1.2 million, stem from a June 12 inspection at a Sound Construction site in Stamford. OSHA inspectors “found the employer failed to train workers on unsafe trenching and excavation hazards, provide adequate protection from cave-ins, require daily excavation inspections, follow trench shield installation standards, and backfill shields to prevent hazardous movement,” the agency said.

The Easton concrete and earthwork contractor was cited last year as a result of an investigation into a workplace fatality. An employee working on the fire suppression system at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan was injured in a trench collapse on Dec. 22, 2023, according to New Canaan Fire Chief Albert Bassett.

The worker was taken to Norwalk Hospital after the incident, and the Department of Labor later confirmed the worker died.

After investigating the incident, OSHA determined that Sound Construction Inc. exposed five employees to hazards by not providing cave-in protection for the more than 12-foot-deep trench. OSHA said the company also did not train employees on how to recognize and avoid trenching hazards, ensure an excavator was kept more than two feet away from the trench's edge and verify the location of underground utilities or structures prior to excavating.

OSHA cited the company for two willful and five serious violations and proposed $394,083 in penalties. The agency said it entered into a settlement agreement with the company, requiring the owner to submit monthly lists of active worksites and to allow OSHA to randomly inspect them to determine whether they comply with safety standards.

The company was cited for three serious violations related to trench safety at a Trumbull worksite in 2016, OSHA said.

“Despite prior warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections and that decision cost an employee their life,” said Bridgeport OSHA Area Director Catherine Brescia in a statement last year. “All employers should make workplace safety a priority or risk being responsible for leaving the family, friends and co-workers of one or more of their employees to grieve this kind of preventable death.”

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