Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Builder cited for exposing workers to trench, excavation hazards

Reprints
Builder cited for exposing workers to trench, excavation hazards

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Monday it is proposing penalties of $190,642 after citing El Paso Underground Construction for failing to protect its employees from trench collapse hazards.

OSHA investigators conducted an inspection after observing employees working in an unprotected trench and subsequently cited the company for failing to provide employees a safe means of entering and exiting a trench, not protecting employees against cave-ins, and for failing to train employees in safe work practices, according to a press statement.

It marked the fifth time in two years OSHA has cited the company for failing to protect employees from trench collapse hazards. The company was cited four times in 2017, putting it in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, according to the statement.

"This company has once again put their employees at serious risk by failing to provide training and implement required trenching protections," El Paso, Texas-based OSHA area office director Diego Alvarado said in the statement. "Unprotected trenches can be fatal, and it is fortunate that no one was injured."

Officials with El Paso Underground Construction could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

 

 

Read Next

  • OSHA cites box maker for amputation hazards

    U.S. workplace safety regulators have cited an Illinois-based cardboard box manufacturer for exposing employees to unprotected machinery and amputation hazards and have proposed penalties of $66,612.