Third employee death in one year for Teichert Construction - Co. under federal investigation

Federal safety officials are investigating the death of a Teichert Construction employee, Timothy Nelson, killed Thursday, Aug. 20, on a San Luis Obispo County water project, the third employee of the Sacramento firm to die in less than a year.

Teichert, one of Sacramento's oldest companies and a major player in the local building industry, was fined $140,000 for the deaths of two workers back in October. Manuel Villagomez, 38, of Elk Grove and Teichert co-worker Jacob Gaines of Bakersfield were killed Oct. 2 in Paso Robles when an excavator hit a water pipe and flooded the ditch in which they were working.

Timothy Nelson, 29, was killed when he was struck and run over by a dump truck. He was working on the Nacimiento Water Project, a 45-mile pipeline that will deliver water from Lake Nacimiento to San Luis Obispo County communities. This is the same project that Villagomez and Gaines were working on when they were killed.

All work on the project has been halted for now. "Teichert places the highest value on safety. Words cannot adequately express the sorrow that everyone at our company feels for Tim, his family and his co-workers," the statement from the company read.

Federal records show that safety inspectors have logged almost 40 violations at Teichert construction sites during the past five years. An investigator from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's San Francisco office headed to the accident site Friday, said U.S. Department of Labor spokeswoman Deanne Amaden. The investigator will determine whether necessary safeguards were in place and whether safety practices were followed.

Sources:
Smith, Darrell, and Phillip Reese. "Teichert employee's death under federal investigation." The Sacremento Bee. 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Aug. 2009.
"Sacramento company investigated for pipeline death." Sign on San Diego. The Associated Press, 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Aug. 2009.