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Region 1 News Release: BOS 98-188
Thursday, October 1, 1998
Contact: John M. Chavez, (617) 565-2075

OSHA CITES HANOVER, MASS. CONTRACTOR FOR ALLEGED WILLFUL AND SERIOUS SAFETY VIOLATIONS FOLLOWING PLYMOUTH, MASS., TRENCH COLLAPSE WHICH INJURED WORKER

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Labor Department has completed an inspection stemming from a Plymouth, Massachusetts, trench collapse which injured a worker. OSHA has cited the worker's employer, P.A. Landers, Inc., an excavation contractor based in Hanover, Mass., for alleged Willful and Serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and has proposed penalties totaling $57,500.

According to Brenda Gordon, OSHA area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts, the accident took place on April 9, 1998, at a construction site located on Sea Cliff Drive in Plymouth. An employee of P.A. Landers was working in an unguarded excavation between five and nine feet in depth when one of its walls suddenly collapsed, burying him up to his chest.

"OSHA's inspection found that the trench lacked any protection against a collapse of its sidewalls," said Gordon. "Such protection could have been provided by shoring up the trench's sidewalls, by sloping the soil at a shallow angle or by use of a protective device known as a trench box. Yet, and despite the fact this employer is an excavation contractor, none of these baseline safeguards was utilized in this trench prior to the accident. As a result, OSHA is citing this employer for an alleged Willful violation for failing to provide collapse protection for this trench and proposing a fine of $55,000."

Gordon explained that the sizable amount of the proposed fine stems from the categorization of the citation as Willful, the most severe level of OSHA citation, issued only when OSHA believes based on its inspection that the employer knew what safeguards were required to protect workers yet apparently elected not to provide them.

"OSHA's excavation safety standard requires that an effective form of collapse protection be in use prior to employees' starting work in a trench or excavation when it is five feet or more in depth or when an inspection by a competent person determines it is necessary," said Gordon. "This is because its walls can collapse with great force and without warning, stunning and burying workers beneath tons of soil before they have time to react or escape. Which is exactly what happened in this case. In this instance, the accident was not fatal but that was in spite of, not due to, the absence of adequate and effective cave-in protection."

Gordon added that trenching safety is the subject of an OSHA national emphasis program. Under that program, OSHA inspectors will stop at any trench they encounter in the course of their normal duties and conduct a quick examination. If potentially hazardous conditions are observed, the inspector will open up an inspection. If violations are found, appropriate citations and fines will result.

P.A. Landers, Inc., was also cited for one alleged Serious violation, not directly related to the accident, for allowing an employee to ride in the elevated bucket of an excavator. A fine of $2,500 is proposed for that item.

Gordon encouraged southeastern Massachusetts employers and employees with questions regarding excavation safety or other workplace safety and health concerns to contact the OSHA area office in Braintree at 617-565-6924 and added that OSHA's toll-free, nationwide hotline --1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742)-- may be used to report workplace accidents or fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, especially if they occur outside of normal business hours.

Specifically, $57,500 in penalties are proposed against P.A. Landers, Inc., for:

One alleged Willful violation, with a proposed penalty of $55,000, for:
-- employees exposed to -- and one employee suffered -- serious injury while working in a five-to-nine-foot-deep trench which lacked collapse protection;

One alleged Serious violation, with a proposed penalty of $2,500, for:
-- failure to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm in that an employee exposed to serious injury while riding in the bucket of an excavator.

A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.

A serious violation is defined as one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.

OSHA is empowered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to issue standards and rules requiring employers to provide their employees with safe and healthful workplaces and jobsites, and to assure through workplace inspections that those standards are followed.

The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.