Region 2 News Release: 13-507-NEW (osha 13-027)
March 21, 2013
Contact: Joanna Hawkins Leni Fortson
Phone: 215-861-5101 215-861-5102
Email: hawkins.joanna@dol.gov uddyback-fortson.lenore@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites gas pipeline contractor Henkels &
McCoy Inc. for repeat trenching hazards at Bayonne, NJ, site

BAYONNE, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Henkels & McCoy Inc. with one repeat violation for trenching hazards found at a Bayonne work site. The company's Pipeline Division is based in Norman, Okla. OSHA initiated an investigation under its national emphasis program on trenching and excavation and proposed $70,000 in penalties.

Workers in an 11-foot deep trench were working without the proper protection and exposed to struck-by and crushing injuries from a potential cave-in. The same violation was cited against the company in 2011. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

"This company has a responsibility to ensure that workers are properly protected from known workplace hazards, such as trench cave-ins, a leading cause of death and injury in excavation work," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "OSHA will continue to hold employers accountable when they fail to protect their workers."

Detailed information on trenching and excavation safety is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.

Henkels & McCoy Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Parsippany office at 973-263-1003.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.