Davide Nascimento, 28, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, July 31, 2015 while working at a construction site in Longmeadow, MA. WFSB.com reports:
- The incident happened at a sewer project on Hazardville Road around 7:45 a.m.
- Nascimento “…was trapped inside a trench that began rapidly filling with water.”
- “The man was employed by Ludlow-based construction company A. Martins and Sons. They were contracted by the town for the project. “
Masslive.com notes:
- The trench was part of an ongoing sewer-line replacement project in Longmeadow.
- The incident occurred at the corner of Tedford Drive and Hazardville Road.
Masslive.com also reports Nascimento leaves behind a family including a wife and two young children.
Each year, about 50 workers in Massachusetts are fatally injured on the job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 57 work-related fatal injuries in Massachusetts during 2013 (most recent data available.) Nationwide, at least 4,545 workers suffered fatal traumatic injuries in 2013.
The AFL-CIO’s annual Death on the Job report notes:
- Federal OSHA has 28 inspectors in Massachusetts to cover more than 171,000 workplaces.
- The average penalty for a serious violation in Massachusetts is $2,104. The average penalty for citations related to a work-related fatality occurring in Massachusetts is $17,625.
Federal OSHA has until the end of January 2016 to issue any citations and penalties related to the incident that stole Davide Nascimento’s life. It’s likely they’ll determine that his death was preventable. It was no “accident.”