The RAND study indicates that safety regulations are only effective for companies that have been cited. Once a facility is called out on a specific violation, the facilities respond to it. The California Injury and Illness Prevention Program (CIIPP) was founded in 1991 and mandates safety regulations and procedures for employers in California, much like the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

According to the study, the CIIPP cites the violations after inspections, but does not necessarily follow up to ensure they are being followed.

“We found the safety effects to be real, but not very large,” says RAND researcher John Mendeloff. “We think that the most important reason for the limited impact of this program is that inspectors often did not go beyond a review of the employer’s written document. People generally improved their compliance. The problem is the manner in which the enforcement being carried seemed to often allow a superficial compliance.”

The CIIPP says that the study is flawed, and to conduct a thorough investigation you would need to review each case file individually. Regardless, the study is alarming and makes you wonder just how thorough California safety inspections are. Have you or a loved one been a victim of a workplace injury? Did your employer jeopardize your health?

Dudek Law Firm, APC—San Diego personal injury attorney.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, three days before the accident the city had ordered the contractor to pause the project because of heavy rainfall and an absence of shoring in the foundation hole, which made the site unsafe. U.S.-Sino Investment, the contractor based in Fremont, did not comply with the city’s orders.

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched an investigation through its regional office. According to a spokesperson for OSHA’s California office, Zapata was working in a 12-foot-deep ditch when it caved in. Rescuers were unable to even retrieve his body until the following Monday due to the conditions.

It is shocking to see a contractor blatantly disobey city orders like this, especially when it put a worker’s safety in jeopardy. The city ordered the pause for a reason, and the contractor chose to blatantly ignore the order, resulting in the wrongful death of Zapata. There were seven other workers at the site at the time as well. The city delivered the stop-work order by hand to the on-site construction manager.

“Stop work notice means you have to stop the work and don’t do any construction,” says Keyvan Irannejad, Milpitas building inspector. “Apparently, they ignored that stop work notice.”

Dudek Law Firm, APC—San Diego wrongful death attorney.