One group has been issued a violation and another has been issued a stop work order after a trench collapsed in Poughkeepsie, leaving two workers trapped.

The collapse happened Friday in front of a home on Dwight Street.

New Horizons Resources has been hit with violations and ordered to fix the issues. Daka Plumbing & Heating, the group responsible for the work, has been told to stop working.

"They're lucky they're both alive. Another 6 inches up, and if it had gotten up to their respiratory area where their chest couldn't expand and contract, they would have suffocated," said Mark Johnson, chief of the Poughkeepsie Fire Department.

Johnson says the contractor failed to protect their workers.

"By law, by safety regulations, they're supposed to put a metal trench box in that trench to prevent the material from collapsing in on them," he said. "They didn't do that."

The City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department says it alerted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, saying the contractors failed to have proper safety equipment.

OSHA told News 12 it is investigating the incident.