Contractor cited in job fatality

OSHA has proposed $14,000 in fines for Van Kirk Sand and Gravel, which operates as Van Kirk Brothers Contracting, for two serious safety violations related to a July 2014 incident in Holdrege, Neb., where two workers were injured, one fatally, while installing drainage structures. An inspection found that one of the employees sustained puncture wounds from a bucket after it disconnected from the excavator and rolled into the trench from a height of about 4 feet. He died from his injuries later that day. The other suffered contusions and abrasions in the incident and has since returned to work. Van Kirk was cited for failing to train workers in the recognition of unsafe conditions and to teach them how to access emergency medical services from a job site.