HOUSTON — A Houston-area contractor faces more than $250,000 in penalties in the wake of a federal investigation into their safety procedures after a deadly trench collapse near Fulshear.
The United States Department of Labor determined Hurtado Construction Co.'s "willful disregard for required safety procedures" led to the death of an 18-year-old worker in September 2023.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the company let the man work without a proper protective system.
The worker was killed when a 15-foot trench wall collapsed on him at a worksite near Fulshear, causing tons of dirt to pin him up against a reinforced concrete box.
"The company’s callous disregard has cost a young man his life and left his family, friends and co-workers to grieve a terrible tragedy under circumstances that were completely preventable," OSHA Area Director Larissa Ipsen said.
OSHA issued the company one willful citation for allowing employees to work in a trench without adequate protection. OSHA also issued five serious citations for Hurtado’s failures to do the following:
- Having someone available to render first aid at the Fulshear site
- Providing a ladder for a quick escape
- Making employees work in an excavation saturated with water
- Improperly using a reinforced concrete box as a protective system during excavation work
Hurtado Construction Co. faces $257,811 in penalties for the violations. The company 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 OSHA review commission.
Hurtado Construction is headquartered in Richmond and provides water, sewer and stormwater line installations and repair. The company was also cited by OSHA in 2021 when the federal regulator determined they didn't "use an adequate protective system to safeguard employees from a potentially deadly collapse at another excavation worksite in Katy," according to the DOL.
"Hurtado Construction has routinely ignored its legal responsibility to protect employees’ safety and health," Ipsen said.
Hurtado's history also includes eight OSHA citations for not providing required protective systems after another worker fatality in January 2007.
According to the DOL, workplace deaths related to excavation and trenching operations have risen significantly, from 15 worker fatalities in 2021 to 40 worker fatalities in 2022.