27-year-old drowned at NC worksite where employer didn’t provide life jackets, feds say
A 27-year-old’s drowning death at a North Carolina worksite over the summer was preventable, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has found.
The man was operating an excavator for Rigid Constructors LLC when the machine tipped over and trapped him underwater in August at Eagle Island, a roughly 2,100-acre island located in Brunswick and New Hanover counties, according to the federal agency.
The 27-year-old and other employees should have had lifesaving equipment — including life jackets, floatable work vests and ring buoys with at least 90 feet of line — in case of emergencies, the agency’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined.
Rigid Constructors, a Louisiana-based contractor, failed to provide the equipment, as well as a small boat, at the worksite despite drowning risks, according to OSHA.
OSHA has cited the contractor for “four serious violations,” including not “providing or requiring employees to use personal protective and lifesaving equipment while they worked near the water-filled excavation site,” the Department of Labor said in a Dec. 27 news release.
OSHA has proposed $50,703 in penalties.
The contractor didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Dec. 31.
“RIGID Constructors’ failure to comply with federal safety and health standards resulted in a preventable tragedy,” OSHA area director Kimberley Morton in Raleigh said in a statement.
The worker who drowned was an ‘incredible husband and father’
The 27-year-old died when he and a foreman were using an amphibious excavator, which can operate in water, to reposition a pump at a water-filled cell on Eagle Island, the Department of Labor said.
He was identified as Austin Eugene Furner of Carolina Beach, WECT reported in August.
Eagle Island is divided into cells — three of which are used to dispose of dredged material from Wilmington Harbor. The three cells go through a cycle that involves dewatering and drying.
Furner was dewatering one of the cells as part of an ongoing improvement project at the Eagle Island Confined Disposal Facility, an Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson told WECT in August. The Army Corps of Engineers owns the land where Rigid Constructors was working, the outlet reported.
Furner got stuck underwater while trying to exit the cell, the Department of Labor said.
The excavator was seen upside down in the water in footage from the Aug. 19 incident, according to WECT.
The work crew and first responders were unable to revive Furner, according to officials.
Furner was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had a wife and three sons, the Wilmington StarNews reported.
“We tragically lost some of the glue that held our family together,” a GoFundMe established by Furner’s family for his funeral service said.
He was described as “an incredible husband and father.”
According to the Department of Labor, Rigid Constructors has 15 days from receiving its citations to comply and pay the $50,703 in penalties, “request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings.”
“Workplace safety isn’t optional, a privilege for some, or merely a recommendation; it is the law,” Morton said.
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