Trenching safety hazards at two Massachusetts worksites have led to $166,950 in proposed fines for a Methuen, Mass., contractor. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited L. Perrina Construction Co. Inc. for a total of 23 alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety standards following inspections at worksites in Quincy and Lynnfield, where the company was installing water mains.

OSHA found that employees at both locations were exposed to cave-in hazards while working in trenches more than 6 feet deep that were not protected against the collapse of their sidewalls, exposed to struck-by hazards from material stored at a trench’s edge in Quincy and an undermined sidewalk in Lynnfield, and were not trained to recognize and avoid such hazards at either location. The Quincy trench also lacked a safe means of exit.

Additional hazards included damaged, inadequate or misused access ladders, a lack of inspections and safety training, electrical hazards, improper storage of flammables and incomplete recording of injuries and illnesses in Quincy. They also included damaged lifting slings, electrical hazards, no backup alarm on an earth mover and a lack of jobsite safety inspections in Lynnfield.

“An unguarded excavation is a tomb in waiting. Its walls can collapse in moments, crushing and burying workers beneath tons of soil before they have a chance to react or escape,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties.

“This deadly hazard is exacerbated when workers are not provided an effective means of safely entering and exiting the trench. No worker should enter a trench unless and until all required safeguards are in place and in use,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts.

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OSHA has cited Atlas Excavating Inc. in West Lafayette, IN with two alleged willful violations for failing to follow federal workplace safety standards at a trenching operation. Proposed penalties total $130,200.

OSHA opened an inspection in May 2009 at excavation jobsites in Danville, IL after receiving information that employees were working in excavations as deep as 8 feet without cave-in protection. As a result of the inspection, OSHA has issued two willful violations to the company for failing to protect workers from cave-in hazards and one serious violation for failing to provide workers in a trench a means of exit.

OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

“It has long been known that cave-in fatalities are entirely preventable,” said OSHA Area Director Nick Walters in Peoria, Ill. “Any employer involved in trenching and excavation can protect its workers by following OSHA’s clear regulations. Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of workers and their families.”

Atlas Excavating has been inspected in Indiana by OSHA seven times since 2000 with numerous serious violations issued.

In July Kentucky OSHA inspected an MSD (Metropolitan Sewer District) worksite at 425 Browns Lane in Louisville and hit MSD with over $102,000 in penalties and two repeat citations. One citation was for not conducting daily inspections of an excavation and the protective equipment systems. The other citation was for having employees in a trench over five feet deep without any cave-in protection system in place.

MSD also received a serious citation for leaving a covered excavation with plywood overtop the hole and not labeling it with the words “hole” or “cover”.

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The alleged failure to protect its employees from potential trenching and excavation hazards has brought Luckinbill Inc. $142,800 in proposed penalties from Federal OSHA following an investigation at two separate worksites near Drummond.

“Health and safety standards must be strictly adhered to in order to protect employees,” said David Bates, OSHA’s area director in Oklahoma City. “Excavations must be properly sloped or benched to avoid injuries and fatalities.”

OSHA’s Oklahoma City Area Office began its investigation March 30, where it found employees working inside a trench without adequate protection from cave-ins at the company’s worksite on Highway 132, north of Drummond. Workers were replacing valves and piping for water lines at depths of 8 and 10 feet in excavations that were not properly sloped to ensure that the soil would not collapse inward. OSHA cited the company with one willful violation for failing to provide an adequate protective system for employees working in an excavation 8 to 10 feet in depth and one serious violation for failing to ensure employees were wearing high visibility vests.

OSHA’s inspection at the company’s worksite on County Road NS2760, southwest of Drummond, revealed that Luckinbill employees were exposed to the same hazardous working conditions. The company was cited with one willful violation for failing to provide an adequate protective system in an excavation 8 to 10 feet in depth, and two serious violations for failing to ensure employees were wearing high visibility vests and failing to ensure that excavated soil was kept at least 2 feet from the edge of the excavation.

Luckinbill Inc., headquartered in Enid, Okla., employs about 180 workers, six of whom were at the worksites at the time of the inspections.

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OSHA has cited A-1 Excavating Inc. in Bloomer with one willful and four serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following the death of a worker.

OSHA began its investigation in April when a worker was fatally lacerated while cutting pipe in a trench at a worksite in New Richmond, Wis. The investigation revealed hazards cited as serious for failure to maintain equipment in a safe condition, failure to provide safe egress from a trench, failure to provide training and the unsafe operation of equipment near or under overhead power lines.

The willful citation was for failing to protect workers in an excavation from cave-ins. A willful citation is issued when an employer knew the hazard existed and failed to correct it.

“A-1 Excavating has been inspected at various Wisconsin worksites 33 times since 1982 and has received 44 citations,” said OSHA Area Director Mark Hysell in Eau Claire, Wis. “It’s long past time that A-1 Excavating make a serious commitment to making certain their workers go home safe at the end of every shift.”

Hysell added that in February, OSHA issued this company $693,000 in penalties for 11 willful violations of federal trenching standards, which A-1 Excavating is contesting before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.  Click here to read more about this event

The company, with current proposed penalties totaling $98,000, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. 

Click here to see local news segment.

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OSHA has proposed seven citations with penalties totaling $136,000 against Tritt Contracting Inc. for violating federal workplace safety standards.

The penalties follow an inspection of a construction site on Cedar Drive in Powder Springs, Ga., where OSHA found company employees working in dangerous conditions inside a 23-foot-deep trench.

OSHA alleges two willful violations with penalties totaling $100,000 for allowing employees to work in a trench without a safe means of escape and without an adequate worker protective system to prevent cave-ins. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

The agency also has proposed a repeat violation with a $20,000 penalty for the company’s failure to adequately train employees to recognize and avoid hazardous conditions, and for inadequately training employees to direct traffic around the worksite. The company was cited for violating the same standard in 2007.

Four serious violations with penalties totaling $16,000 have been issued for the company’s failure to place warning signage to oncoming motorists of work being conducted in the roadway, not providing the employee directing traffic with proper traffic control equipment, allowing equipment to be placed within two feet of the trench and using a protective system inside the trench that was not designed by a professional engineer.

“OSHA will not allow employers to endanger their workers’ lies by cutting corners on safety just to speed up work and minimize any inconvenience to residents and motorists,” said Andre Richards, area director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West office.

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OSHA has proposed $60,000 in fines and a willful citation against G. Lopes Construction Inc. for allegedly failing to provide cave-in protection for employees working in a 6-foot, 3-inch-deep excavation located in front of 156 Winthrop St. in Taunton, Mass.“These citations highlight one of the most dangerous hazards in construction work,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. “An unguarded excavation can collapse in seconds, crushing and burying workers beneath soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape.”

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OSHA is citing McLendon Enterprises Inc. of Vidalia with six workplace safety violations and proposing $124,250 in penalties.

The citations come after an OSHA compliance officer observed company employees working in a trench without cave-in protection at a jobsite in Hinesville, Ga., last September.

OSHA is proposing three willful violations against the company, carrying proposed penalties of $38,500 each, for allowing workers inside an 11-foot-deep trench without safe egress and without cave-in protection. While in the trench, workers were exposed to being struck or engulfed by soil placed too close to the trench and by an excavator that was operating too close to the edge of the trench. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

Three serious safety violations with combined proposed fines of $8,750 are for the company’s failure to train a non-English speaking employee in trenching hazards, allowing employees to work in a trench without head protection and allowing an employee to use a cutoff saw without wearing eye protection. A serious citation is issued when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

“Excavation is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction operations,” said John J. Deifer, OSHA’s area director in Savannah, Ga. “The significant fines proposed here reflect the fact that this company knew the OSHA rules yet chose not to follow them. It is fortunate in this case that no one was injured.”

We thought it interesting that you can go to the webpage for this contractor http://www.mclendonenterprises.com/horizon.html and take a look at the second photo on this page (note: Don’t mouse over it as the photo will change). Anything seem questionable for our trenching safety competent people?

OSHA has cited Phillips Construction in Hernando, Miss., with nine safety violations following an October 2008 trench collapse in Horn Lake, Miss., that resulted in yet another needless death of one worker and injury to another.OSHA has cited the company with one willful safety violation carrying a proposed penalty of $49,000 for failing to provide cave-in protection, such as shoring, sloping or a trench box, for its employees. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.Six serious safety violations with $21,000 in proposed penalties have been proposed for failing to develop and maintain safety and health programs, provide training on trenching hazards, provide personal protective equipment, provide a means of egress from the trench, keep excavated soil at least 2 feet away from the trench edge and remove surface encumbrances from the trench side. A serious violation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA has cited John Prouty Construction Inc., O’Neill, Neb., for alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act following an investigation of a trench collapse near Verdel, Neb., that killed four workers Sept. 12, 2008.OSHA’s investigation of the excavation company’s site found three alleged willful and two alleged serious violations of the OSH Act.“There is no excuse for this accident and these workers did not need to lose their lives. It is appalling to realize there are companies that would allow, or even require, their employees to enter excavations without having cave-in protection,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. “It is imperative that employers take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment for all of their employees to prevent accidents like this from occurring.”The willful violations stem from the company’s failure to instruct employees in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions when working in a trench and not having a cave-in protection system. Furthermore, excavated spoils and other equipment were not kept 2 feet from the trench edge. OSHA issues a willful violation when an employer exhibits plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.The serious violations stem from the lack of hard hat use by employees where an overhead hazard existed as well as failure to provide safe access into and egress from a trench greater than 4 feet in depth. OSHA has proposed $201,600 in penalties against the company.