OSHA finds contractor exposed workers to danger of trench cave-in for four days at Meadville, Pennsylvania construction site

Employers name: Landfried Paving Inc., 172 Crestview Drive, Greenville, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 200 Mulberry St., Meadville, Pennsylvania  

Citations issued: On March 22, 2016, the  U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful violation and two serious violations. 

Investigation findings: On Oct. 1, 2015, OSHA opened an inspection after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection notified the agency of hazardous conditions at the construction site of a new parking garage, where the company was installing drainage catch basins. OSHA investigators found Landfried exposed workers to the risk of a cave-in for four days while they installed drainage catch basins. Workers were inside an unprotected excavation at least seven-feet deep with steep, vertical walls. The company was cited for these hazards.

Proposed penalties: $18,800                                       

Quote: “Landfried Paving exposed its employees to dangerous excavation hazards that could have been deadly in a cave-in. Without the proper protection, a trench can quickly become a grave for workers,” said Theresa A. Naim, director of OSHA’s Erie Area Office. “OSHA will not tolerate when an employer’s fails to ensure the safety and health of its employees.

View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Landfried_Paving_INC_1096939_03_16_2106.pdf

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Erie Area Office at 814-874-5150.