A Washington contractor faces a $140,500 fine after an inspector showed up on the jobsite and saw workers in a trench whose walls were repeatedly collapsing.
Inspector Tyler Barrick is being hailed by Washington Labor & Industries for preventing a potential tragedy.
Barrick, an L&I inspector, stopped at a construction site in Ridgefield in February when he saw an excavator digging a 12-foot-deep trench for a sewer line installation.
“I noticed a worker being pulled out of the trench by some topside workers,” he recalls in an L&I video. The worker had to be pulled out because the ladder was about 4 feet below the top of the trench.
"When the L&I inspector arrived, workers were pulling another crew member out of the trench," L&I says.Washington Labor & Industries
“Workers told Barrick they could hear the collapsing dirt hit the side of the trench box while they were inside during setup,” L&I says.
Barrick also saw that the trench box’s being feet away from the trench walls led workers to step over a large gap to get on top of the trench box, causing a fall hazard.
Barrick stopped work until the problems were corrected. He noted that the contractor had everything on site needed for a safe job, but it was either not in use or was being used incorrectly.
“The employer said I had showed up at the worst time possible; they were just getting started,” Barrick recalls in the video. “They were going to have everything in place, but they just hadn’t got there yet.”
Clark employees corrected the problems before Barrick left. The company faces these five willful violations, according to L&I:
- Workers were not protected from cave-ins while inside, entering or exiting the trench.
- Improper trench box use. It was more than 6 inches from trench walls. There was about 4 feet of unprotected area above the 8-foot-tall trench box, and there was no shielding on the ends of the trench box.
- Workers were not removed from the trench when it showed signs of collapsing.
- No walkway/ramp to cross over the trench.
- Ladder was not extended at least 3 feet above the top of the trench.
"During the inspection, the dirt wall continued to cave in approximately 20 times. You can see the sheet metal on the edge of the trench is now hanging over where there used to be soil," says Washington L&I.Washington Labor & Industries
“If our inspector had not come along, this could have easily ended in tragedy,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “This employer has owned and operated this excavation company for 35 years. He knows the rules.”
Clark is appealing the citations. Equipment World has reached out to the company for comment.
