Companies have the duty of keeping workers safe by following federally-mandated safety rules and regulations. When these requirements are not followed, companies can face serious fines, but even worse, it often results in injuries and fatalities.

This is the unfortunate reality for one contract company based in Fort Worth, Texas, that is accused of violating several safety standards after a worker was killed during a tunneling project in Webster, New York. Following an inspection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Southland Contracting Inc. for several violations of workplace safety standards.

The fatal accident occurred on April 11 as workers were constructing a tunnel for the Eastside Water Supply Project in Webster. The workers were in the raw water intake tunnel when everything went black after a fuse blew out. In the darkness, an employee who was operating a locomotive hit his head and sustained a fatal head injury when the locomotive ran into a conveyor belt.

One of the safety hazards OSHA cited the Texas company for was failing to provide bumper blocks on the locomotive, which likely could have saved the worker's life. Additionally, the locomotive was pushing an unattached flat car, and it was discovered that the locomotive had not been properly inspected.

Additionally, OSHA said that there was no effective way for the workers in the tunnel to notify the locomotive operator of problems while he was in transit. OSHA also said that the reason for the blackout in the first place had been that welding equipment was plugged into branch circuits that were only supposed to be used for temporary lighting.

OSHA said that the site had never been inspected by a competent person before the work began on the project, and all of these problems amounted to citations for six serious safety violations. OSHA defines a serious violation as a hazard that causes substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result about which the employer knew or should have known.

Southland Contracting Inc. now faces a total of $55,440 in proposed penalties. Additionally, it is very possible that the company could face a wrongful death claim brought by the family of the worker who was killed. With these findings made by OSHA, it is likely that the family could be awarded damages for their tragic loss.

Source: OSHA Regional News Release, "US Labor Department's OSHA cites Fort Worth, Texas, contractor for serious and repeat safety hazards following worker fatality in Webster, NY, tunnel," Oct. 12, 2011.