SPOKANE, Wash — The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has fined two Spokane construction companies for exposing a crew of concrete workers to a dangerous wall of dirt during a recent home build in Spokane.
L&I says the two companies are now facing a combined $300,000 in fines. Better Builders of Spokane LLC, and its subcontractor, VS Concrete LLC, were fined on Dec. 3 for numerous willful and serious cave-in-related hazards.
L&I says it was contacted by a local building department after multiple VS Concrete employees were seen working next to an approximately 22-foot-high, nearly vertical dirt wall without adequate cave-in protection. The workers were working in a gap between the dirt wall and the concrete foundation, with no way to escape if the dirt had collapsed…