In Mississippi, the work involved gas and water lines. In Texas, sewer lines. What the two work sites had in common was that both involved trenches more than five feet deep, and neither provided its workers with protection against cave-ins.
OSHA has cited Brocato Construction Inc. of Batesville, Miss. with two willful and one serious safety violation, after finding that workers relocating gas and water lines along a state highway were in trenches up to eight feet deep that were not guarded against collapse. The serious violation involves exposing employees to struck-by and cave-in hazards by not providing a ladder to enter and exit the excavation. Proposed penalties against Brocato total $117,600.
"An unguarded trench can collapse and bury workers beneath tons of soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's area director in Jackson. "The employer is aware of OSHA's safety standards with regard to excavation and trenching, but chose to put employees' lives at risk by having them work in an unprotected trench."