A worker's life was lost under tragic and allegedly preventable circumstances when a building's foundation in Hanson, Massachusetts partially collapsed, leading to a fatal accident in February. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has held Aleckssandro Tomaz Pereira, the proprietor of three waterproofing contracting companies, accountable for the incident, according to an investigation reported by NBC10 Boston. Pereira's actions, or lack thereof, left his employees exposed to the dangers of trench collapses and structural failures.
OSHA has cited Pereira for a series of violations highlighting a disconcerting disregard for safety protocols, specifically mentioning his failure to ensure the excavation and the building’s foundation were safeguarded against potential collapse, the absence of water removal from the trench, and providing no exit ladder, which could have altogether averted this heart-wrenching incident, "This tragedy was entirely preventable," OSHA Area Director James Mulligan was quoted saying in a statement obtained by NBC10 Boston. As a result, Pereira now faces penalties totaling $283,115, which OSHA proposed for two willful and six serious violations relating to the February 7 event that led to the death of 51-year-old Gerceir Osvaldo Faria, who was identified by the Plymouth District Attorney.
The specificity of the violations paints a bleak picture of the worksite conditions—calling out the lack of training for employees to identify and evade hazards, the improper use of the excavator, the absence of a safe means for exiting the trench, and notably an oversight that allowed the employee to dig beneath a zone that was not supported which according to OSHA should have been avoided, as per details from Boston 25 News.
After the collapse, there was a sizeable response as emergency crews diligently worked for several hours to retrieve Faria’s body from beneath the collapsed foundation, a grim effort that underlined the severity of the accident and loss. Faria, who had moved to Massachusetts from Brazil not long ago, leaves behind a wife and two children, a fact that gives a face and a name to the tragedy, in a statement made by his brother to Boston 25, providing a backstory of an individual's pursuit for better fortune in a land now marked by his untimely passing.
