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Worker Dead After Trench Collapse on Victory Boulevard

By Nicholas Rizzi | June 21, 2012 4:25pm

STATEN ISLAND — A 29-year-old construction worker died on Thursday after a trench collapsed in a Travis shopping center, officials said.

The worker was in the process of replacing piping for a septic system inside the trench, according to the Department of Buildings.

The victim went into cardiac arrest after the trench at 3555 Victory Blvd. caved in shortly after 10:30 a.m., FDNY officials said.

The victim was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

The contractor, Reliable Plumbing Inc., failed to provide sheeting or shoring, which are installed inside construction trenches to protect workers from cave-ins, a DOB spokeswoman said. The lack of these safety measures are what appears to have caused the collapse, she said.

Reliable Plumbing Inc. could not be reached for comment.

The DOB has issued a full stop-work order on the site, and is in the process of issuing five violations to the contractor: failure to provide sheeting or shoring, failure to notify the department of the start of excavation work, failure to protect the adjoining property, failure to put up guard rails, and working without a permit.

Reliable Plumbing was also ordered by the DOB to backfill the trench because it's unsafe, the DOB spokeswoman said.

Officials have not released the name of the worker.