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Southwest Idaho Company Fined $77K Following Worker Deaths

Katherine Jones
/
Idaho Statesman

Federal safety authorities have fined a southwest Idaho company $77,000 following the deaths of two workers in a trench collapse in Boise.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday issued the fines to Meridian-based Hard Rock Construction.

Thirty-six-year-old Bert Smith and 26-year-old Ernesto Saucedo died when the trench collapsed on May 3 while they worked to install a sewer line.

Federal officials say the company failed to put in safety measures and didn't instruct the employees on methods to eliminate cave-in hazards.

The company declined to comment on Tuesday.

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