The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited a Haverhill, Mass., contractor for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards at a Billerica, Mass., worksite. Cape Ann Equipment Inc. faces a total of $43,200 in proposed fines.
The citations and fines resulted from an OSHA inspection opened Sept. 17, 2007, when agency inspectors driving by a water main repair site at Boston Road and Cook Street observed a Cape Ann Equipment employee working in a 7-foot-deep trench that lacked any cave-in protection. OSHA standards require that all trenches 5 feet or deeper be guarded against a collapse of their sidewalls.
“The potential for death or serious injury in this or any unguarded trench is real and imminent,” said Rose Ohar, OSHA’s acting area director in Methuen. “Cave-ins occur suddenly and without warning, crushing employees beneath tons of soil or debris before they can react or escape. That’s why collapse protection must always be in place before employees enter a trench.”
OSHA has issued Cape Ann Equipment one willful citation, with a proposed fine of $42,000, for the lack of cave-in protection. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
One serious citation, with a $1,200 fine, has been issued for ladder safety deficiencies, including ladder misuse and an exit ladder of insufficient height. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Trenching safety is an OSHA priority. Under OSHA’s National Emphasis Program, agency inspectors will stop and open an inspection on the spot when they observe employees working in unprotected trenches, as happened in this case. Detailed information on trenching and excavation safety, including an interactive e-Tool, is also available on OSHA’s Web site at www.osha.gov/SLTC/constructiontrenching/index.html.
If you have reviewed this product please comment below or select the comment count.
For more information please contact us- Thank you.
Related posts:
- Fall and cave-in hazards at Concord, N.H., worksite lead to more than $120,000 in fines from the U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA for two Bay State contractors
- OSHA fines a North Little Rock, Ark., $79,000 for trenching and excavation hazards
- Connecticut environmental cleanup company faces more than $95,000 in OSHA fines
- OSHA fines 11 contractors more than $135,000 for fall hazards at Walden Galleria Mall construction project in Cheektowaga, N.Y.
- OSHA: Forklift operator death leads to citations for delivery company
