10 years after girl's death, new law protects public from trenches (Mom works decade to pass law)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/state/x844650682/10-years-after-girls-death-new-law-protects-public-from-trenches

Mom works decade to pass law to honor girl, 4, who died in trench collapse

By Theresa Knapp Enos
GateHouse News Service

Posted Mar 02, 2009 @ 01:01 PM
BRIDGEWATER — Almost 10 years after a trench collapsed on Bridgewater 4-year-old Jackie Moore, a new trench law to protect the public — the so-called “Jackie’s Law” — went into effect Sunday.

Jackie died in August 1999 after a contractor dug a nine-foot trench in the Moore’s backyard and left it unprotected. Within minutes of the contractor leaving, Jackie, her brother and another neighborhood child were playing in the hole when it collapsed.

The other two children escaped, but Jackie did not.

“She was a beautiful, spunky little girl who did all the typical little girl things like soccer and dance school and she went to preschool,” says her mother, Maureen Moore of Bridgewater, who has been working since the accident to pass a law that would protect the public.

“There were OSHA (Occupational Safety and the Department of Public Safety) laws for workers and grown adults who are experienced in the risks involved in excavating, but yet there were no laws to protect the general public — kids in particular — who aren’t educated or know the dangers of the work site. That they were able to open the earth and leave a deadly trench seemed like a terrible flaw in the system,” said Moore.

The law was drafted by the Department of Public Safety and passed on its first try in 2002. It then took six years to be sure the law did not conflict with OSHA regulations and to give municipalities time to train their local licensing authorities.

FULL story at link.

[MadMaddie]

1. Is it just me

This would be common sense to cover and put protection around a trench. WTF and it took 10 years to get this law passed?