Workers warned Ohio trench was too deep but were told to enter minutes before fatal cave-in: report

Workers replacing a storm drain at an Ohio job site warned that a trench had become dangerously deep, but federal investigators say they were told to enter it anyway — minutes before it collapsed, killing one worker and severely injuring two others. Jose Alberto Barajas Martinez, 28, was killed in the Dec. 5 collapse near Milford. OSHA later found the roughly 8-foot-deep trench had no protection against a cave-in, despite federal rules requiring safeguards for trenches deeper than 5 feet, according to records. Whispering Creek LLC, the landscaping company on the job, was cited for five safety violations and initially fined $231,714, the report said.