Irish Construction: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jun 21, 2004: Employee injured in trench cave-in

On June 21, 2004, Employee #1, who worked for an underground contractor, entered a 6 ft deep trench that was 18 in. wide at the bottom and 36 in. wide at the to p to remove rocks and complete finish leveling before installing water and drain pipes. He was standing at the bottom of the trench when there was a cave-in and he became trapped. Employee #1 suffered a fractured pelvis, ribs, and hip, a la cerated liver, and a punctured lung.

Incident on May 24, 2001: Employee crushes two fingers in backhoe accident

On May 23, 2001, three employees were laying PVC pipe (communications conduit) i n the street. The employees broke sections of concrete street using a jackhammer , and dug a trench using a backhoe. At approximately 3:00 a.m. the following mor ning, the employees began laying temporary steel plates over the excavation to a llow for safe vehicular traffic until construction work could resume on the next shift. At the time of the accident, the backhoe operator was placing the steel plates over the open trench. The backhoe carried the steel plates utilizing a ch ain connected to the backhoe and the eyelet, located in the center of the plate. Each plate weighed approximately 2400 lb. and measured 6 ft. by 8 ft. by 1.5 in ches. An employee used his bare hands to guide the plates to ensure a smooth fit alongside the other plates. While a plate was being lowered to the ground, it s truck the employee's right hand, crushing the middle and ring fingers. The emplo yee was taken by paramedics to White Memorial Hospital, in Los Angeles. His righ t middle finger was fractured, and the right ring finger was also injured but no t as severely. He was hospitalized for his injuries.

Incident on Apr 8, 1995: Employee injured when struck by backhoe boom

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on April 8, 1995, Employee #1, a backhoe operator, wa s standing on the ground placing a 5-gallon emulsion pile on the backhoe. He had not turned off the engine when he got off the backhoe, and kept the engine runn ing. The pile struck the control lever of the backhoe boom and the boom struck h im, bruising his shoulders. He was taken to U.S.C. Medical Center by paramedics and was hospitalized. He is now being treated as an outpatient.

Incident on Jun 4, 1992 (fatal): Employee killed when run over by truck wheels

Employee #1, a truck driver for Irish Construction, was experiencing motor probl ems with a truck he was driving. He stopped the truck and was lying under it whi le attempting to repair it. The truck went into gear and rapidly moved forward. The left rear dual wheels ran over his head. He suffered multiple skull and faci al fractures due to blunt force trauma. Employee #1 was killed.

Incident on May 15, 1991: Burn - electrical fault in underground cable

A foreman for a power line contractor had been instructed to excavate and raise a 12.5-kilovolt underground cable. The cable was located in plastic conduit enca sed in concrete. The employee was using a pneumatic tool to break and remove the concrete. As he was breaking the concrete, the tool punctured an adjoining cond uit contacting another 12.5-kilovolt cable. The employee was burned by the ensui ng electric arc. He was hospitalized for his injuries.