Wichita water plant contractor fined by OSHA for ‘serious violation’ in worker’s death

Federal workplace safety regulators have fined a Wichita Water Partners subcontractor for a serious violation of workplace safety law in the death of a construction worker at the city’s new water treatment plant.

Manuel Esparza, a 55-year-old project manager for Utility Contractors Inc., was killed last March while trying to move a large iron pipe at the Northwest Water Treatment Facility.

An OSHA investigation found UCI violated a federal law that requires employers to provide a workplace that is “free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees” when it allowed workers to misuse and overload a hoist instead of ordering the proper tools for the job.

OSHA initially fined UCI $20,717 for two serious violations but lowered the penalty to $13,880 for a serious violation and a less severe violation through an informal settlement.

UCI did not respond to questions for this story.

Wichita Water Partners, a Burns and McDonnell and Alberici, said in a statement that it “engaged a national safety consultant to enhance the safety culture not just for our employees but for all subcontractors helping deliver this important piece of infrastructure for the City of Wichita.”

A city of Wichita spokesperson said the city “is satisfied that Wichita Water Partners has taken steps to ensure the safety of the site and the workers.”

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“The loss of Mr. Manuel Esparza was a great tragedy,” Megan Lovely, city spokesperson, said in a statement. “We thank OSHA for its investigation into this matter to ensure that the site of the northwest water treatment facility is safe and held to the highest regulatory standards. As you are aware, the employer cited by OSHA is Wichita Water Partners subcontractor UCI, not the City of Wichita.”

The Wichita City Council hired Wichita Water Partners, which promised to use a consortium of local companies including UCI as subcontractors, in 2019 to build a new water treatment plant after a botched bidding process left the group as the sole bidder on the largest single contract in the city’s history. The group includes two companies that spent thousands of dollars on undisclosed gifts to Mayor Jeff Longwell before he steered the contract in their favor.

Despite concerns about the lack of competition, the City Council unanimously moved forward with the contract, citing fears the project could lose federal funding if it was put back out for bid. It’s scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

OSHA report details

Esparza was part of a four-man crew attempting to seat a 6-foot section of 48-inch-diameter pipe into a concrete effluent box, according to the OSHA report.

UCI had successfully seated similar pipes on two other effluent boxes using a technique that was approved by the pipe’s manufacturer — using an excavator and lumber to apply force to the pipe to seat it in the sleeve.

But the day before Esparza’s death, that technique did not work. Instead of using the pipe manufacturer’s special tools for the job, UCI improvised, using vertical lifting hoists to side-load and overloading vertical hoists by having two workers pull on the chains to operate the hoists, according to OSHA’s findings.

“After failing to seat the pipe on March 9, the employer had employees try to seat the pipe again on March 10 using a technique it improvised,” the OSHA report says. “The improvised technique used two manual chain hoists designed to lift loads vertically, a two-ton Coffing hoist and a two-ton CM series 622 hoist, to pull the pipes together horizontally. Also, contrary to the hoist manufacturer’s instructions, the employer had two employees pulling on the hand chain of each hoist at the same time.”

“This improvised technique was also contrary to the pipe manufacturer’s instruction manual, which referenced special assembly tools and rigging where assembly of pipes by manpower is desired,” the report continues. “The special tools consist of a heavy-duty roller chain hoist, a steel pipe-end hook and snatch block, and wire rope chain tackle to attach the rigging together to effect ‘double line’ from the top of the pipe. The employer did not use the pipe manufacturer’s special tools or follow the pipe manufacturer’s instructions.”

“As the employees pulled on the hand chains of the vertical hoists, one of links in the chain on the two-ton Coffing UN 007 hoist broke. The sudden release of tension caused the spreader beam to which the hoists were connected to swing, striking an employee in the head and chest and killing him,” the report says.