Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 003 Hazard:

29 CFR 1926.652(a)(1): Each employee in an excavation is not being protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system designed in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.652 (b) or (c): (a) A4S LLC dba A4S Construction: The employer is failing to protect each employee performing work in trenches by properly sloping the trenches or by using appropriate protective systems designed in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c) of 29 CFR 1926.652. This violation was committed on November 16, 2021, at 0084 Berlin Placer Road in Breckenridge CO 80424 when employees were installing sewer lines in a vertical cut excavation that was greater than 5 feet deep in type B and C soil, without a protective system. The trench caved in burying three workers and fatally injuring one. This violation was observed again on December 20, 2021, at the same construction project, when workers in a trench deeper than 5 feet were photographed working below an undercut portion of the trench and outside of a trench box. Between August and December 2021, the employer routinely assigned workers to work inside trenches that were not protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system. To abate this violation the employer must ensure that the trenches are properly sloped, or that protective systems designed in accordance with this standard are used, and that no employees enter trenches until this protection is provided.