Cal/OSHA’s criminal investigation into the December 2012 falling death of a 51-year-old carpenter in San Francisco resulted in manslaughter charges by the San Francisco District Attorney against the worker’s employer and foreman. Salvador William Versaggi of Sonoma, owner of Versaggi Construction, along with foreman John Fitt of Sebastopol pleaded not guilty on to the manslaughter charges and two counts of violation of the labor code.

On December 26, 2012, 51 year old Jose Plancarte was assigned to lower a window frame opening in the main stairwell of a residential construction site at 40 Edgehill Way in San Francisco. Plancarte had worked as a carpenter for Versaggi’s company, Versaggi Construction, for 20 years. He built a nailed-bracket scaffold and used two scaffold planks to access the window located more than 18 feet above ground. Plancarte was not wearing fall protection and the scaffold did not have guardrails. He was found unresponsive at the base of the stairwell, having fallen 18.5 feet to the concrete basement floor. Plancarte was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Cal/OSHA’s investigation determined that Versaggi Construction had failed to provide fall protection training to its workers at the site, and that foreman Jim Fitt was aware that Plancarte had cobbled together a prohibited type of scaffolding in direct violation to the employer’s own safety program.

Cal/OSHA’s civil investigation resulted in the issuance of four citations with penalties totaling $25,870 on March 29, 2013, including two citations for serious violations.