Rotschy Inc., a construction company in Vancouver, Washington, faces over $170,000 in fines after a workplace accident in Woodland, southwest Washington. The accident happened when a 3,000-pound excavator bucket detached and fell. It struck a worker who was inside a trench box. The worker was signaling to the excavator operator at the time. He suffered serious injuries to his lower body and was hospitalized for more than a month. The bucket slipped again during a rescue attempt, causing further injury.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) investigated the incident. The agency found that both excavators at the site were missing a required safety latch on their quick coupler attachments. This latch is meant to prevent buckets from detaching by accident. L&I officials said supervisors and maintenance staff were aware of the missing latches. Inspectors also found that 13 other Rotschy excavators did not have the required safety latches.
Other violations at the Woodland site included no safe walkway over the trench and not enough cave-in protection around a sewer manhole. Supervisors allowed workers to jump across a trench that was 10 feet deep, which increased the risk of injury…