By Khalida Sarwari and Melissa McRobbie
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.
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.
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.
