Firm Faces Fines in Death of Worker

A Lompoc construction company building the 90,000-square-foot Chumash Casino faces as much as $91,000 in fines for violations of federal safety standards that allegedly led to the death of a worker in a trench collapse.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the violations were particularly egregious because R. Williams Construction had represented itself as an expert in underground construction and had been hired because of that alleged expertise.

Federal investigators said workers had allegedly been asked by R. Williams officials to sign a statement that they had received training in trench work when they hadn’t. Some workers said the statement identifying them as trench experts was in English though some could not speak, read or write English. One of these workers is a Lompoc man who was injured in the accident, OSHA said.

Jose Aguiniga, 42, of Buellton was killed and his co-worker Adam Palamar suffered a shattered pelvis when the 70-foot-long, 10-foot-deep trench they were working in collapsed while they were digging a new sewer line on Sept. 19, 2002.

“OSHA excavation and trenching standards clearly state what standards must be in place to protect workers in this type of construction,” OSHA’s deputy regional administrator, Christopher Lee, said in a statement. “This employer knowingly placed workers at significant risk by failing to take the most basic precautions against trench collapse.”

Investigators say the company failed to comply with requirements that trench walls be sloped at an angle of no more than 34 degrees. The trench that failed was sloped at an angle of about 45 degrees, federal investigators said. This alleged violation carries penalties of as much as $70,000.

In addition, the construction company allegedly failed to provide a stairway, ramp or other means of escape for the workers; failed to have a qualified person doing ongoing inspections of the excavation during the work shift; and neglected to instruct employees in how to spot and avoid dangerous trench conditions. The three violations carry a fine of $21,000.

The company also received a citation for a single violation, without penalty, for failing to have the trench properly shored.

R. Williams Construction recently filed an appeal. There was no immediate comment from the firm.

Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta said he would meet with tribal leaders to discuss the OSHA report this week.