Birmingham plumbing contractor deliberately ignores OSHA safety standards, exposing its workers to trench cave-in hazards

Employer’s names: Stephens Plumbing Inc.

Inspection site: 2050 Eastern Blvd., Montgomery, Alabama 36117

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Stephens Plumbing for one willful and four serious safety violations. The agency initiated the inspection as part of its National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation after an inspector saw workers in a trench without protection. 

Investigation findings: The willful citation was issued to the employer for allowing employees to work in an excavation up to 10-feet deep without cave-in protection. The agency requires that all trenches and excavation sites 5-feet or deeper be protected against sidewall collapses. Protection may be provided through shoring of trench walls, sloping of the soil at an acceptable angle or by using a protective trench box.

The serious citations relate to the employer:

• Not providing workers with information and training to recognize and avoid cave-in hazards.
• Not providing a safe means to enter and exit the excavation.
• Failing to ensure soil removed from the trench was not placed directly on the edge of the opening.
• Allowing employees to work in an excavation with water accumulated in the bottom.

Proposed penalties: $43,800

Quote: “Stephens Plumbing knew the excavation was unsafe, but they put workers in the trench anyway, because management said ‘the job needed to get done’,” said Joseph Roesler, OSHA’s area director in Mobile. “Luckily, a compliance officer was there to stop the work before a collapse occurred. It only takes seconds for trench to collapse and bury an employee under thousands of pounds of earth, often resulting in serious injury or death.”

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/legacy-files/newsroom/newsreleases/OSHA20160765.pdf

Stephens Plumbing Inc., based in Birmingham, Alabama, is commercial and residential plumbing contracting company. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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 Mobile Area Office at 251-441-6131.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.