Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : State Cites Two Firms Over Worker’s Fall Down Hole

Two construction companies have been cited by the state for safety violations at a site where a worker fell down a 66-foot hole in August, authorities said Tuesday.

Jaime Lozoya, 32, fell into the 2 1/2-foot-wide hole while inspecting the shaft. He went into cardiac arrest as he was pulled from the hole after nearly four hours, and died two days later at a Santa Clarita hospital.

Two construction companies at the site, Miller Construction Co. of Castaic and D.J. Scheffler Co. of Walnut, were cited for not properly securing the shaft cover, said Rick Rice, a spokesman for the state Department of Industrial Relations, which conducted the investigation.

“It was covered, but the feeling of our investigators was that it should have been secured as well,” Rice said.

The citations have to do with the alleged safety violation, which has not been directly named as the cause of the accident. Eyewitnesses have said that Lozoya had lifted the cover and was inspecting the shaft when he stepped into it.

The fines that go with the violations are only about $500 for each company, even though the safety violations are classified as “serious,” the second-highest classification on a four-step rating system, Rice said.

“You have to realize our penalties have strictly to do with penalty code violations, not the resulting effects,” he said.

Rice said he believes the companies received the safety citations on Monday and will have 15 days from that date to appeal. He said if challenged, it could be several months before hearings are held and the issue resolved.

Cal/OSHA is determining if criminal charges should also be sought concerning site conditions, Rice said.

Officials with the construction companies did not return telephone calls Tuesday.