Contractor to be sentenced on manslaughter charge in trench death

The owner of an Avon, Colorado, construction company whose failure to follow required federal safety standards caused a worker death in a trench collapse will be sentenced in November after pleading guilty to manslaughter in August, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced.

The plea follows a criminal referral by the U.S. Department of Labor after owner Peter Dillon and his now-defunct company, A4S LLC, refused to require the use of proper safety equipment to protect workers, which led to a worker’s death while installing a residential sewer line in Breckenridge, Colorado, according to OSHA.

After an investigation of the incident, A4S received three willful citations for not following trenching safety requirements. OSHA proposed $449,583 in penalties and placed A4S in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.