Community Corner

Contractor of Home Where Carpenter Died Did Not Have Permit to Dig Deep Trench

Memorial service will be Wednesday.

The contractor of a home in Milpitas where a carpenter died over
the weekend did not have a permit from the state to dig a deep trench, a
spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health
said today.

On Saturday morning, 39-year-old Raul Zapata, of Hayward, was
killed when a retaining wall collapsed on him at a site in Milpitas where a
5,800-square-foot home is being constructed at 814 Calaveras Ridge Drive.        

The contractor, Fremont-based U.S. Sino Investment Inc., has been
ordered to stop building at the site while Cal/OSHA reviews the company's
safety protocols and interviews its employees, agency spokeswoman Erika
Monterroza said. The investigation could take up to six months.

Find out what's happening in Milpitaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Monterroza said that state permits are required for excavations
that are five feet or deeper and that the trench that collapsed on Zapata was
"at least 13 feet" deep.

She said Zapata was doing work next to an unsupported 13-foot
retaining wall, which she described as a "wall of dirt," when a portion of it
sheared off and collapsed onto him, burying him.

Find out what's happening in Milpitaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rescuers were unable to save Zapata and he died.

The area was deemed unstable, and a rescue team wasn't able to
remove his body until Monday night, Monterroza said. She said an engineer had
to draw up a safety plan in order for the body to be extracted safely.

"This is a terrible situation," Monterroza said. "It was a totally
preventable death."

She said the contractor could face a fine of up to $70,000 per
violation, though that depends on the severity of the violations.

On Jan. 25, three days before the accident, a city inspector
issued a stop-work notice ordering the contractor to stop building and
consult with an engineer, according to Keyvan Irannejad, Milpitas' chief
building official.

"The project inspector was concerned it was rainy," Irannejad
said. "It didn't have the shoring in place to protect the dirt from caving
into the area where the workers were working."

When the inspector returned the following day, no one was working
at the site, Irannejad said, but on Sunday a project manager told Irannejad
there were seven to eight people working there.

He said the company ignored the stop-work notice.

Irannejad said that the notice would remain effective until the
company submits the proper documentation and demonstrates it can make the
construction site secure.

A public memorial service for Zapata will be held at 11 a.m. on
Wednesday at St. Bede Catholic Church in Hayward.

-Bay City News


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