On February 14 in St. Charles, Missouri, an employee of J.H. Berra Construction was installing a sewer pipe in a 13- to 14-foot trench that had nearly vertical walls. OSHA reported that a worker was installing an 8-foot section of 8-inch PVC pipe.
OSHA issued the following citations and $143,206 in proposed penalties on August 2:
- No benching, sloping, shoring or other cave-in protection – $119,338
- No safe access or exit from the trench – $11,934
- No daily inspection before work started in the trench – $11,934
After reaching an informal settlement August 23 with J.H. Berra Construction, the fines were cut in half to total $71,603, according to OSHA records. OSHA notes that the case is still “pending abatement of violations.”
The case follows a similar OSHA enforcement action in Missouri last month, in which it proposed penalties of $212,158 against contractor R.V. Wagner of Afton. The company is contesting those penalties, according to OSHA records.
For more on the business and human costs of trench-collapse fatalities in the United States, see Equipment World’s special report “Death by Trench”.