The death of a worker crushed by part of a Hanson, Massachusetts, building's foundation in February was "entirely preventable," according to the federal workplace safety agency, which has cited the man's employer.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Aleckssandro Tomaz Pereira, a Woburn man with three waterproofing contracting companies, for two willful and six serious violations in the Feb. 7 construction death of a worker on a Dwight Street home.
Pereira exposed his employees to several hazards by not protecting a 5-to-6-foot trench under the home's foundation, including risks of cave-ins and structural collapse, OSHA said.
“Aleckssandro Tomaz Pereira should never have placed workers in this trench until the excavation and the building’s foundation were guarded against collapse, workers were properly trained, water was removed from the trench and an exit ladder was provided,” OSHA Area Director James Mulligan said in a statement. “This tragedy was entirely preventable.”
OSHA proposed $283,115 in penalties for several violations and two willful violations. The citations were issued in July; Pereira had until Nov. 26 to abate them.
NBC10 Boston is reaching out to Pereira for comment.
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Family has previously identified the worker who died as Gerceir DeFaria, a recent immigrant from Brazil. It took hours to remove his body from the scene after the first call that he was trapped in the collapse, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said as the investigation began..
"The heart is broken," said his brother, Elias DeFaria, at the time. "Every day, he called to his family, every day."
The man was waterproofing the home's basement when part of the foundation broke off and fell on about half of his body at about 11:30 a.m., according to Cruz.
Workers were using air bags and other tools to shore up the building.
DeFaria's brother said the man came to the U.S. for work about six months before and that his wife and kids were still in Brazil. They were in shock and couldn't understand how the incident happened.
