A Minnesota contractor is facing proposed penalties of more than $1.8 million for repeated trench violations – four in the past four years – according to the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
The $1,862,284 in proposed fines for Wagner Construction Inc., based in International Falls, appears to be the largest single OSHA penalty amount issued to a company in at least two years for a trench violation. The fines follow a settlement agreement between Wagner and OSHA in 2021 for similar violations. It marks the fourth time in four years the company has been cited for such violations, OSHA says.
In the 2021 agreement, Wagner paid a reduced fine of $380,000, down from the original $583,334. The company also agreed to other requirements, such as training its employees on trench safety and developing a detailed safety plan. The company hired a full-time safety manager and agreed to buy new trench-safety equipment, OSHA said at the time.
In the recent set of violations, OSHA cited Wagner on individual cases, rather than lumping the violations together as it often does. That resulted in 16 repeat violations and one serious violation.
The recent violations, issued November 29, stem from a project June 1-7 in Minot, North Dakota, in which workers were replacing a residential water main and 20 separate curb-stop valves, according to OSHA.
The agency said it got a complaint workers were in trenches without proper protection. This follows the 13 violations cited between 2019 and 2020 on projects in Bismarck, North Dakota, that led to the previous agreement. OSHA says that Wagner’s adherence to that agreement is being investigated further.
“Wagner Construction failed to keep their promises to the U.S. government and its employees by ignoring one of the construction industry’s most lethal hazards,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer Rous in Denver. “In 2022, 39 people died while doing trenching and excavation work — the highest number in almost 20 years — making this company’s unwillingness to protect its employees truly disturbing. With the substantial increase in the number of construction projects in North Dakota and across the nation, employers like Wagner Construction must take all necessary steps to make sure employees are safe on job sites.”
