Company Agrees to Fines Over Indiana Worker’s Death

A construction company has agreed to pay $16,000 in fines for safety violations following the death of a worker at a northern Indiana highway project.

The Indiana Department of Labor says it found safety violations after 30-year-old Arthur Kerns was killed in November when a hillside gave way and buried him. Kerns was with a crew building an overpass for the new Indiana 25 route near the Carroll County city of Delphi.

Labor Department spokeswoman Chetrice Mosley tells the Journal & Courier that the fines against T.J. Lambrecht Construction of Joliet, Ill., were reduced by about $3,000 after company officials met with the agency.

Violations found by state inspectors included not having cave-in protection in the 10-foot deep excavation at the site about 20 miles northeast of Lafayette.