This time, OSHA inspectors claim the company did not providing cave-in protection or a safe means of exit for employees installing a water line in a trench more than 6 feet deep.
“An unprotected trench can bury a worker under thousands of pounds of soil in seconds and cause severe or fatal injuries,” said Angeline Loftus, OSHA’s area director at its Chicago North Office in Des Plaines. “Since 2000, OSHA has cited OG Plumbing five times for violating federal trenching standards. The company knows that every trench deeper than 5 feet must have cave-in protection.”
The agency opened an investigation under OSHA's National Emphasis Program on trenching and excavation after observing two employees working in the unprotected trench at the residential home under construction on Western Avenue in Chicago on March 10, 2015. The proposed penalties for both violations is $69,300.
Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.
