XPO Accepts Violation in Fatal Accident Involving Granite Slabs

XPO Logistics has agreed to accept a serious violation and pay a fine of more than $10,000 in connection with a June 25 accident that claimed the lives of two workers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the violation and fine last month upon completing its six-month investigation into the incident at the IDA Park Drive warehouse in Lockport, N.Y.

XPO employees Roger Mangine and Christopher Klosin were killed after 11 slabs of synthetic granite, weighing 800 pounds each, collapsed on them inside a tractor-trailer. Mangine and Klosin had been inspecting the slabs, some of which had been left leaning against the trailer wall.

Both men apparently had died by the time paramedics arrived.

OSHA found XPO had failed to follow labor laws on secure storage, ruled the violation was serious and fined the company the maximum penalty of $12,934 for a first-time violation.

XPO later settled on a lesser violation of failing to document employee training and paid a reduced penalty of $10,347.

As a condition of its settlement, XPO has also agreed to abate the hazardous conditions.

An XPO spokesman said the company is “pleased” OSHA rescinded its original citation.

“Safety remains our No. 1 priority, and one accident is too many,” spokesman Joe Checkler added in a statement. “We remain deeply saddened by the loss of Roger and Christopher in this tragic accident.”

Last month, the widows of Mangine, 62, and Klosin, 38, filed lawsuits against Du Pont, which manufactured the countertop slabs at its Tonawanda plant.

Both suits allege that Du Pont’s negligence caused the fatal accident.

XPO Logistics was not named in either suit, as state law bars estates of employees from suing their employers.

Attorney Christopher O’Brien, who is representing the Mangine family, previously said DuPont is partly responsible because the company packaged and sent the materials to XPO Logistics’ facility at 4890 IDA Park Drive.