RIGID Constructors LLC

Leland, NC 2024 Construction Contractors

OSHA Osha Serious Equipment Operator Training Osha Serious Ppe Life Saving Osha Serious Emergency Rescue Equipment Osha Serious Fall Over Water

Penalty

$50,703

Deaths

Outcome

RIGID Constructors LLC was cited for four serious OSHA violations and fined $50,703 after a 27-year-old heavy equipment operator drowned in August 2024 when the amphibious excavator he was operating tipped over in a water-filled cell at Eagle Island, North Carolina.

Details

RIGID Constructors LLC — Fatal Amphibious Excavator Drowning, Eagle Island NC (2024)

Outcome: A 27-year-old equipment operator drowned in August 2024 after an amphibious excavator tipped over in a water-filled cell; OSHA cited RIGID Constructors LLC for four serious violations including failure to train operators, provide lifesaving equipment, or have an emergency rescue skiff on site, and proposed $50,703 in penalties.

In August 2024, a 27-year-old heavy equipment operator employed by RIGID Constructors LLC, a Louisiana-based contractor working at Cell-3 Eagle Island near Leland, North Carolina, was repositioning a pump using an amphibious excavator. The operator and a foreman were in the machine when it tipped over in a water-filled cell. The foreman was able to escape; the operator became trapped underwater. Emergency responders were unable to revive the worker.

OSHA's investigation found four serious violations: failure to train workers on safe operation of the marsh hoe (amphibious excavator), failure to provide and require use of personal flotation equipment for workers near water-filled excavations, failure to provide an emergency rescue skiff that could respond if a worker fell into the water, and failure to provide other required personal protective equipment. OSHA determined this was a "preventable tragedy" and proposed a penalty of $50,703.

Primary Source: US Department of Labor finds Louisiana contractor could have prevented 27-year-old worker's drowning fatality

How Crucible Prevents This

Marine and aquatic construction environments require simultaneous compliance with equipment operation, fall-over-water, and emergency rescue equipment standards. A Crucible pre-work session gate requiring documentation of operator certification, presence of emergency rescue skiff, and life-saving equipment assignment before any over-water equipment operation is cleared would have surfaced all four missing controls before this fatality occurred.

Source: US Department of Labor finds Louisiana contractor could have prevented 27-year-old worker's drowning fatality

Don't let this happen to your organization. See how Crucible works.

See How Crucible Works