Mississippi Firm Fined for Trench Collapse That Killed 3 Workers

A Mississippi company cited for safety violations in the death of three workers when a trench collapsed in March has agreed to pay a $39,500 fine.

American Air Specialists Inc. of Hattiesburg was cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the four “serious” and one “willful” safety violations.

The company and OSHA agreed to a settlement that was nearly half of the $65,450 original penalty OSHA had proposed.

The company was fined after three of its employees died while they were connecting a sewer line in Hattiesburg. The workers were identified as 30-year-old Leonardo Navarro Diaz of Sumrall, 19-year-old Brandon Edward Rathbone of Hattiesburg and 55-year-old Wayne Dale Kelly of Columbia.

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Information from: Hattiesburg American,

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com

Latest Comments

• September 26, 2010 at 7:27 am

  chris teufel says:

  I agree catherine. Brandon was a great friend of mine. We used to chat on the phone and whenever I had issues he was there for me. I got a tattoo in memory of him because he m... read more
• January 29, 2009 at 4:15 am

  Catherine"Rathbone" LePori says:

  This is probably the worst thing I can say, But the collapse that killed these 3 men on Good Friday was the worse days of our lives. I do not believe that anyone in this matte... read more
• January 15, 2009 at 2:49 am

  Safety Guy says:

  Ooops. Before you math whizzes chime in.......make it $13K per life.