OSHA has cited Loveland, Ohio-based Carter Construction Co. Inc. with four – including two willful – safety violations for exposing workers to excavation hazards while installing an underground storm sewer pipe in a 20-foot-deep trench in Montgomery. The agency’s June inspection was conducted under the agency's National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation. Proposed penalties total $68,500.

The willful violations include failing to provide sidewall protection in a trench and to remove employees from an excavation where hazards were identified.

Two serious violations include failing to keep equipment and material at least 2 feet back from the excavation's edge, and provide a means of entry into and exit from an open excavation.

OSHA standards mandate that all excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse. Detailed information on trenching and excavation hazards is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.