R. Williams Construction Company v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor
Opinion
Opinion
Fletcher, J.
Petitioner R. Williams Construction Co. (“Williams” or “the Company”) petitions for review of a final order of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (the “Commission”), affirming violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) in the wake of a trench collapse and death of an employee at a construction site in Santa Ynez, California. We deny the petition for review.
I
On September 19, 2002, a trench collapse at a sewer-construction project at the Chumash Casino Project in Santa Ynez, California, killed Jose Aguiniga, a Williams employee, and seriously injured Adam Palomar, another Williams employee. On the day of the collapse, the trench was ten to twelve feet deep and between three and four feet wide at the bottom. The trench was about thirteen feet wide at the top and more than forty feet long. The sides of the trench rose vertically from the bottom for approximately five feet, after which they sloped backwards at about a forty-five degree angle. An earthen slope at the west end of the trench provided the workers’ only access to and egress from the bottom. Ground water seeped into the soil continuously.