Contractor Faces Charges in 2016 Trench-Collapse Fatality

摘要

For the first time in Washington state history, an employer faces felony charges for a workplace fatality.Harold Felton, 36, died in a January 2016 trench collapse at a West Seattle residential sewer-line project. Phillip Numrich, 40, then-owner of Alki Construction, now faces second-degree manslaughter charges, filed on Jan. 5 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.The Washington Dept. of Labor & Industries' investigation into the death led to $51,500 in fines and citations for safety violations, including a willful violation, considered the most severe.