cave-in hazards

2019 Trench Safety Stand Down coming in June

May 20, 2019

They tend to happen more on Mondays. They can occur in an instant. And trench deaths kill about 25 workers a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). About 75 percent of those deaths are due to cave-ins, which are largely preventable through cave-in protection and soil analysis. The remainder are mainly caused by struck-bys or electrocutions – also largely preventable.

Workers exposed to trenching hazards at NJ construction site

Contractor faces $197K in fines

February 24, 2017

Acting on a complaint in June 2016, OSHA found employees of one of the Verona, New Jersey area's largest general contractors working in an unprotected 10-foot deep excavation at a suburban New Jersey high school, in violation of federal safety and health laws. OSHA announced today it has issued citations for nine violations - one willful and eight serious - to The Landtek Group Inc., a New York-based general contractor that specializes in sports facility design and construction. The company faces $197,752 in fines as a result.

Worker suffers severe injuries in trench cave-in

January 16, 2017

OSHA has cited a Sioux Falls, South Dakota excavating contractor for five serious safety violations after the agency's investigators found a 40-year-old equipment operator suffered severe injuries while working in a 16-foot-deep trench on Oct. 28, 2016.

NYC foreman convicted in worker’s death

November 10, 2016

A New York City construction foreman has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in the death of a worker last year.

After citations, Ill. contractor exposes same workers to same trenching hazards

October 12, 2016

Less than three weeks after being cited for exposing workers to unsafe trenches, federal investigators saw a Chicago plumbing contractor exposing the same four-man crew to trenching hazards as they worked on sewer and water utilities at two locations in Oak Park on consecutive days in March 2016.

OSHA: Mass cave-in "could have been prevented"

September 28, 2016

Two employees of ET&L Construction Corp. escaped serious injury when the 12-foot deep trench they were working in on June 15, 2016, caved in.

Plumbing contractor ignores OSHA safety standards

April 28, 2016

OSHA issued citations to Alabama-based Stephens Plumbing for one willful and four serious safety violations. The agency initiated the inspection as part of its National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation after an inspector saw workers in a trench without protection.

Cave-in protection failures cited after excavation collapse in Missoula

OSHA cites two construction contractors for nine violations; penalties total more than $151K

September 28, 2015

A complaint that an employee had been partially buried when an excavation collapsed brought OSHA enforcement officers to a Glennco Excavating, Inc. construction site in Missoula, Montana.

SC contractor exposed workers to cave-in, struck-by hazards

April 15, 2015

South Carolina-based Jordan Construction Co. exposed workers at a Pooler, Georgia worksite to a variety of hazards, according to OSHA, which inspected the as part of its National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation.

Penn. contractor again exposes workers to trenching hazards

October 31, 2014

Despite being cited by OSHA following a 2013 trench collapse, a follow-up inspection found that C & G Refrigeration Inc. of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was still exposing its employees to trenching hazards to potentially deadly trenching hazards while they performed underground utility work at a residence.