Editors note: This story has been up updated.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Rigid Constructors LLC in the into the August 2024 incident that left a heavy equipment operator dead.
Austin Eugene Furner, 26, was operating an amphibious excavator on a water project on Cell-3 Eagles Island in North Carolina when it overturned. His body was recovered later that day after the excavator could be stabilized, according to StarNewsOnline.
OSHA cited the Louisiana contractor with four serious violations for failing to train workers on operating a marsh hoe and for not providing or requiring employees to use personal protective and lifesaving equipment while they worked near the water-filled excavation site. The employer also failed to provide a skiff for workers to use immediately in the event of an emergency.
“Rigid Constructors’ failure to comply with federal safety and health standards resulted in a preventable tragedy,” said Kimberley Morton, OSHA Area Director in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Safety cannot be just a marketing slogan or an afterthought, it must be a core commitment. Workplace safety isn’t optional, a privilege for some, or merely a recommendation; it is the law.”
OSHA has assessed the employer $50,703 in proposed penalties.
According to WECT, the project was run by the Army Corps of Engineers and involved improving cells used for the “safe disposal of dredge material from the Wilmington Harbor.”
In video of the scene, the excavator undercarriage is the only piece of the machine above water.
