Builders Fined $40,000 in Fatal Cave-In : Safety: Work in a 10-foot-deep unreinforced trench violated state law. One worker was killed in a collapse.

A contractor and a subcontractor are being fined a total of $40,535 for violating state safety laws by allowing construction workers to enter an unreinforced trench, which collapsed last month killing one worker and injuring two others.

Investigators from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded that the 10-foot-deep trench was not shored, sloped or otherwise protected from collapse as state codes require for all trenches deeper than five feet.

The Cal/OSHA investigators also found that subcontractor Bill Lindon, who was overseeing the work at the site, knew that the trench was unsafe when he sent workers in, said Richard Stephens, a spokesman for the agency.

Stephens said Lindon, a state licensed contractor, will be fined $36,085 for willfully failing to reinforce the trench, for knowingly sending workers in to an unsafe place and for failing to notify the local Cal/OSHA office before work began at the site, as his license required.

“They permitted employees to work inside an unprotected excavation,” Stephens said of Lindon’s company. “They knew it was an unsafe workplace.”

The Brea-based contractor, G&W; Builders, is also being fined $4,450 for allowing work to take place in an unsafe, unreinforced trench and for failing to obtain a permit for the excavation, Stephens said.

But he said Cal/OSHA investigators did not find that G&W; officials were aware of the dangerous working conditions on the site, but that they are still liable.

Prosecutors from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said they have not decided whether to file involuntary manslaughter charges against Lindon, 60, or G&W; Builders in the death of Jose Alonzo, 63.

Stephens said Cal/OSHA officials will continue to investigate the incident and will make a recommendation to local prosecutors about whether criminal charges are warranted.

Alonzo was killed when a 15-foot section of the trench caved in May 20. He was buried for about 30 minutes before rescuers dug him out. Jose Rivera, 34, suffered minor injuries in the collapse, and Lindon suffered a broken pelvis.

The trench was dug to replace a sewer line into a warehouse leased to Watkins Motor Lines Inc. at 12200 Montague St. in Pacoima. Workers had been at the site for six days before the accident.

G&W; officials and Lindon refused comment Wednesday.