legal developments Safety insight: If a crew member alerts you to a potentially dangerous situation, stop the work right away and take steps to eliminate the hazard. What happened: A company was hired to perform a task that required workers to labor in trenches. The host employer said the contract company had to maintain a safe worksite and comply with safety regulations, but the host employer had no direct involvement in managing the job or ensuring that contract workers stayed safe. What people did: A contract crew member was descending into a 10-foot- deep excavation when he noticed water seeping into the hole. He alerted his supervisor to the problem and suggested that it was too dangerous to keep working. His supervisor said to him, “Get the f-ck down there.” A short time later, the trench collapsed and the man was completely buried in soil. He survived the incident, but he suffered physical and mental injuries. Legal challenge: The injured contract staff member sued the host employer, arguing that it had a duty to provide him with a safe workplace. Result: The company won. But it was close. At first, a jury awarded $20.5 million to the injured man, but an appeals court overturned the verdict. The judge said the host employer didn’t exercise enough control over the work to be held liable. In fact, said the court, the host employer hired the contract company because the contractor was supposed to know how to perform the task safely. The skinny: Contract workers usually have a hard time pinning the blame for injuries on host employers – contractors are often hired because they have the expertise on how to safely perform hazardous jobs. Cite: Kono v. D.R. Horton Inc., Supreme Court of Iowa, No. 23-2092, 4/10/26. horror stories Summary A 51-year-old worker who was an avid motorcyclist and a founding member of a biker club was crushed to death when the lift axle on a large tractor trailer broke off and landed on him. The incident Stacy Martin had just returned from a trip to California to resume working at Bert’s Truck Equipment in Moorhead, MN. He’d been employed by the truck equipment shop for nearly 15 years and was known for his boisterous personality, so he made sure to give everyone a quick update on his great trip. Then Martin got down to business. He was assigned to repair a damaged lift axle on a tractor trailer. He positioned himself underneath the vehicle and began inspecting the lift axle. Without warning, a weld on the 1,500-pound lift axle failed, and the axle detached and landed on Martin’s chest and abdomen. The response When emergency responders arrived a short time later, they saw that Martin was alert and chatting with his coworkers. He was still conscious when they got him into the ambulance. But on the way to the hospital, Martin lost consciousness. Paramedics tried to revive him, but they were unsuccessful. Additional efforts at the hospital to save Martin also failed, and he was soon declared dead from his severe crushing injuries. The aftermath Martin, of Fargo, ND, was an avid motorcyclist whom everyone knew as “Deuce.” He was a founding member of the Second Brigade Motorcycle Club. “Gone from our sight but never from our ride,” wrote his biker buddies Cakes and Tater. “Your legacy will live on in every mile we travel, every memory we share and every road that still carries your name with love and respect! Ride free, Deuce.” May 4, 2026 Safety Alert for Supervisors 3 You make the call: The decision (See case on page 1) No. The company lost. The court dismissed the employer’s lawsuit challenging the fine. The judge said the company couldn’t get the citation overturned by claiming it was economically infeasible to comply with the safety regulation due to the high cost of hiring a full-time safety supervisor. For the organization to win its economic infeasibility argument, it had to show that there was no other way for it to comply with the regulation. Yet the safety inspector pointed to several other potential compliance methods – increased training and surprise inspections – that could’ve improved safety and not cost a lot. What it means: Safety is always worth the price Sure, it can sometimes cost a lot to comply with safety regulations, but remember that companies are rarely able to defeat citations by claiming that it would’ve been too expensive to keep people safe, as the employer in this case tried to do. If courts allowed the economic infeasibility argument to stand, just about every organization would cite high cost as a reason not to comply with safety regulations. Remember: The cost of ensuring staffers stay safe pales in comparison to the high price of just one severe workplace injury. Based on Fama Construction v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Supervisor ignores staffer’s warning of impending danger Biker buddy crushed to death by 1,500-pound truck lift axle