OSHA has cited North Royalton-based DiGioia-Suburban Excavating for two willful safety violations after discovering that workers were allowed to ride inside an excavator bucket to access a trench at a Bowling Green job site on Nov. 17, 2011. A complaint prompted OSHA's inspection of the site, where six workers were digging a trench to replace existing sanitary lines. Proposed fines total $123,750.

"DiGioia-Suburban Excavating has a responsibility to ensure that workers take all safety precautions and are protected from known workplace hazards such as trench cave-ins, a leading cause of death and injury in excavation work," said Kim Nelson, OSHA's area director in Toledo. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to so."

The willful violations include failing to prohibit workers from riding the excavator bucket to access the trench as well as provide a safe means of egress from the trench.

Detailed information on trenching and excavation hazards is available at www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.

The citations can be viewed at www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DiGioia-SuburbanExcavatingLLC_109118_0515_12.pdf*.

Prior to this case, DiGioia-Suburban Excavating had undergone 15 inspections since 1989 and been cited for 46 violations. In the past, the company also has been mandated by OSHA to increase and document self-inspection efforts.