Region 5 News Release: 12-790-CHI
May 16, 2012
Contact: Scott Allen Rhonda Burke
Phone: 312-353-6976
Email: allen.scott@dol.gov burke.rhonda@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites DiGioia-Suburban Excavating with
2 willful safety violations after allowing workers to ride in excavator buckets

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited North Royalton-based DiGioia-Suburban Excavating for two willful safety violations after discovering that workers were allowed to ride inside an excavator bucket to access a trench at a Bowling Green job site on Nov. 17, 2011. A complaint prompted OSHA's inspection of the site, where six workers were digging a trench to replace existing sanitary lines. Proposed fines total $123,750.

"DiGioia-Suburban Excavating has a responsibility to ensure that workers take all safety precautions and are protected from known workplace hazards such as trench cave-ins, a leading cause of death and injury in excavation work," said Kim Nelson, OSHA's area director in Toledo. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to so."

The willful violations include failing to prohibit workers from riding the excavator bucket to access the trench as well as provide a safe means of egress from the trench. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

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

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DiGioia-SuburbanExcavatingLLC_109118_0515_12.pdf*.

Prior to this case, DiGioia-Suburban Excavating had undergone 15 inspections since 1989 and been cited for 46 violations. In the past, the company also has been mandated by OSHA to increase and document self-inspection efforts.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the current citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings 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 Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542.

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.

* Accessibility Assistance: Contact OSHA's Office of Communications at 202-693-1999 for assistance accessing PDF materials.