Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited G.A. Rich & Sons of Deer Creek, Illinois, for not protecting trench workers, according to a recent press release . Proposed fines of $59,290 were issued for one repeat safety violation and one serious violation. The inspection took place at the site in Lexington, Illinois, where new water and sewer lines were being installed.

Our Chicago workers' compensation lawyers understand that this inspection was done as part of OSHA's Trenching and Excavation National Emphasis Program. This program allows inspectors to evaluate trenching operations at anytime and anywhere.

An OSHA area director stated that cave-ins are a leading cause of death among construction workers, and all employers should make safety a priority at all work sites.

The repeat violation was the one that produced the most costly proposed penalty of $53,900. Back in 2006, the company was doing work in Germantown Hills, Illinois. At that job site they were cited and fined for not providing cave-in protection. A repeat violation is issued if a company was fined previously for the same violation. In this case, the work site in Lexington was observed having workers in a trench that was seven-feet deep. Cave-in protection is required by OSHA standards for any trench five feet or greater in depth. OSHA standards also state that nothing should be within two feet of any trench edges. The Lexington site was observed to have excavated material at the edge of the trench resulting in a proposed penalty of $5,390 for a serious violation.

Perhaps this employer should have reviewed the recently released guidance documents, Trenching and Excavation, Working Safely in Trenches and Do Not Enter an Unprotected Trench from OSHA for safely working in and around trenches. This educational material delivers the message that working in an unprotected trench is a ticket to an early grave. It gives the statistic that at least 200 workers have died and hundreds more have been injured by trench accidents since 2003. The material emphasizes that one worker dies every two weeks from being buried alive or crushed to death in a trench collapse. The materials include the "Do Not Enter an Unprotected Trench" poster that illustrates a 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot pile of dirt can weigh more than 2,000 pounds. Add water to that pile of dirt and the weight can exceed 3000 pounds.

The basic rules of working in and around trenches seem pretty clear. Assuming most construction workers are over 5 feet tall, if you are working in a trench and you can't see over the edge you need a cave-in protection system. A trench needs to have an easy method of getting in and getting out, like a ramp or ladder. Material that comes out of the trench should not be put near the edge so that it falls back in.

OSHA's website can provide further information on excavation and trenching hazards.