Contractor to pay $360K for role in drilling death

A contractor will pay $360,000 in penalties for an industrial accident that killed a Greene County man in 2012 at a Northeast Solite Corp. work site, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

The agreement with Catskill-based North American Quarry and Construction Services was reached just as court action against the company, initiated by the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, was to begin, the department said.

On Nov. 1, 2012, North American Quarry employee Stephen J. Wickham, 30, of Greenville, was operating an industrial drill at Northeast Solite’s Mount Marion Pit and Mill in the town of Saugerties when he became entangled in the shaft of the machine’s auger. Wickham suffered severe trauma in the accident and died from his injuries at the scene.

Wickham was boring holes for demolition charges when the accident happened.

Northeast Solite, headquartered on Tissal Road in Saugerties, manufactures lightweight aggregate for concrete.

In addition to agreeing to pay $360,000, North American Quarry accepted three “flagrant” violations and one “high negligence” violation, the Department of Labor said.

The department said a flagrant violation is defined as “a reckless or repeated failure to make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known violation of a mandatory safety and health standard that substantially and proximately caused, or reasonably could have been expected to cause, death or serious bodily injury.”

The Mine Safety and Health Administration determined North American Quarry intentionally removed an emergency stop switch from the drill prior to the accident and that the company assigned the driller to work alone amid hazardous conditions and without adequate contact or communication with others, the labor department said..

The department also said a foreman for North American Quarry has agreed to pay $6,000 in penalties because investigators found the way he trained Wickham contributed to the accident.

Wickham had about six months of drilling experience when the accident occurred, a federal investigation found.

The foreman’s name was not provided.

A person answering the phone at Northeast American Quarry on Thursday said the company had no comment.

Northeast American Quarry was a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Austin Powder Co. at the time of the accident, the labor department said.