Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

29 CFR 1926.651(k)(2): The employer is failing to ensure that each exposed employee is removed from a hazardous area until the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure their safety, where a competent person finds evidence of a situation that could result in possible cave-in, indications of failure of protective systems, hazardous atmospheres, or other hazardous conditions: (a) This violation was recently observed at the corner of First Street East and Frontage Road, Ross, North Dakota, where the employer failed to remove the employee repairing a water valve in a trench approximately 8.5 feet deep, without adequate protective systems, from a hazardous condition. Abatement Note: To abate this violation, the employer must ensure at all of its workplaces that all employees engaged in trenching activities are removed from the trench when evidence is found of a hazardous condition and that no employee reenters the trench until the hazardous condition has been eliminated. Methods of abatement include competent persons conducting daily inspections of excavations and adjacent areas, and installation of protective systems for a situation that could result in possible cave-ins, indications of failure of protective systems, hazardous atmospheres, or other hazardous conditions. Pursuant to 29 CFR 1903.19, the employer must submit documents describing the steps it is taking to ensure compliance, including the names and qualifications of the persons it is designating as competent, and a description of their responsibilities. Inspections shall be made by a competent person, shall be documented, and shall be conducted in the following frequency and conditions: daily and before the start of each shift; as dictated by the work being done in the trench; after every rainstorm; after other events that could increase hazards, e.g. snowstorm, windstorm, thaw, earthquake, etc.; when fissures, tension cracks, sloughing, undercutting, water seepage, bulging at the bottom, or other similar conditions occur; when there is a change in the size, location, or placement of the spoil pile; and when there is any indication of change or movement in adjacent structures. Pursuant to 29 CFR 1903.19(c), the employer must submit documents describing the steps it is taking to ensure compliance, including an explanation of how these steps protect its employees from cave-ins. Abatement certification and documentation are required for this item (see enclosed Sample Abatement Certification Letter). The employer shall cease and desist from violating the requirements of 29 CFR 651, Specific excavation requirements.