Vernon, CT
A trench collapse that occurred in August of 2022 resulted in the death of Dennis Slater (56) of East Windsor, CT has resulted in criminal charges against the owner of the contracting firm as well as his machinery operator.
During an investigation conducted by both the Vernon Police Department along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration it was determined that Dennis Botticello (63) of Suffield, CT knowingly placed his employees in danger of serious injury or death on multiple occasions, including the incident that resulted in Mr. Slater's death. Botticello has been charged with first-degree manslaughter and first-degree recklessness and is being held on $50,000 bond pending a court appearance.
Dennis Slater was working in a trench that was over 8 feet deep placing sewer pipe when the walls of the trench collapsed, engulfing Mr. Slater in thousands of pounds of dirt almost instantly. Testimony from other employees showed that Botticello routinely took chances with his employees lives for the sake of saving money. Text messages from Mr. Slater's phone even revealed that he had been texting an out of state friend about the conditions at the work site, specifically with reference to two prior collapses that had happened in the days leading up to the fatal collapse. He described in the text messages that he spoke with Botticello about the conditions, but he refused to fix them.
OSHA issued $375,000 in fines related to the incident, but that won't get Mr. Slater his life back. OSHA found 3 willful violations on the job site, each resulted in a citation and penalty notice for $125,000. Botticello contested the violations before he was criminally charged and arrested. The standards cited were:
1926.651(C)(2) - Which requires an egress ladder / stairway / ramp at least every 25 feet in excavations over 4 foot in depth
1926.651(K)(1) - Which requires inspections of the excavation by a competent person at a minimum frequency of once per day. Note that it was determined that there was no competent person on site that day.
1926.652(A)(1) - Which requires the use of a protective system (shoring, portable shield, etc.) to protect workers in the excavation from the risk of collapse.
Botticello had be previously cited for trench safety standards violations in 2015 while working at a different job site after OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officers conducted an unscheduled inspection of the job site.
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