Oct 5

Oct 5 Two companies fined for incident that led to worker's death

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued fines to two companies in connection to the death of a construction worker in Rochester.

Far West Construction Co. of Cedar City, Utah, and Empyre Builders Inc. of Lehi, Utah, have both been cited for multiple "serious" rule violations. Each company faces a total of $50,000 in fines.

The incident happened back in February at the construction site of a new Microtel Inn and Suites, near Shoppes on Maine. According to a report from the time, crews were putting up a wall on the third level of a new hotel when part of a forklift unexpectedly dropped and hit a worker.

The worker, identified as James Benjamin Sandmire, 30, of Lehi, Utah, died about an hour after the incident at St. Marys Hospital.

Sandmire left behind four young children, according to a fundraising page set up for his family in the accident's aftermath. The campaign raised $71,500.

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(Cover graphic: The Med City Beat)