Four contractors are facing proposed six-digit fines for separate trench violations issued in the past two months – including one after a fatality and one for similar citations after a prior trench death, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The OSHA violations were issued between November 13 and December 26 for separate cases in Maine, Texas and Florida, with combined proposed penalties totaling $631,989.
The contractors can appeal the violations.
Here’s a look at the four investigation results:
Fatal Collapse in Maine
A 67-year-old worker died June 15, 2024, when a wall beside a trench collapsed on top of him in Brownville, Maine.
Stephen Lane was in the 3- to 4-foot-deep trench at 2:45 p.m. preparing to lay a 12-inch culvert for a catch basin. His brother and company owner Clifford Lane was operating an excavator near the retaining wall’s base, “which destabilized it and caused a 40- to 60-foot-long section of the wall to tip over. One worker escaped but the other worker suffered fatal injuries,” OSHA reported.
Patriot Paving Group LLC of Glenburn faces proposed penalties of $161,325 for not bracing the retaining wall, failing to remove employees from the trench after it was determined to be hazardous, and not training or instructing three employees in the hazards associated with trench activities, according to an OSHA citation announced December 26.
“OSHA investigators determined Lane knew the wall next to the trench was unstable, but did not use necessary protective systems or evacuate employees,” the agency says. “The continuing excavation created clear and imminent dangers.”
Clifford Lane told News Center Maine that he was devastated by the loss of his brother, was unaware the wall was unstable, and that he’s not at fault for the collapse.
Repeat Violations
In July 2024, OSHA received a formal complaint about workers in Fort Worth, Texas, in a trench on a water and sewer line project that did not have adequate cave-in protection.
The employer, Bandera Utility Contractors LLC of Frisco, had been cited in 2022 after a 41-year-old worker for the company died when a 10-foot-deep trench collapsed on him during a sewer line repair in McKinney. Another worker escaped the cave-in. Bandera was cited with proposed penalties totaling $165,952. After contesting the violations, the fine was reduced to $100,000.
On December 26, OSHA announced it had issued $107,228 in proposed penalties against Bandera for allegedly exposing workers to potential deadly cave-in for the July 2024 investigation.
“In addition to a lack of protective system, OSHA inspectors noted that the company failed to provide employees with basic safety measures, such as sufficient ladders in the trench and a safe means of escape in the event of a collapse,” the agency reports.
2 Florida Contractors Cited Within Days
The largest proposed penalty of the four was issued November 13 against Masci General Contractor Inc. of Port Orange, Florida, for $216,633.
On May 28, 2024, OSHA inspectors reported the company’s workers were installing a sewer line in a 6-foot-deep trench in Daytona Beach.
“OSHA inspectors initiated the removal of the employees from the trench, and subsequently, the agency issued a citation to the employer for willfully endangering workers by failing to provide essential cave-in protection, such as shoring or trench boxes, while they worked in the excavation,” OSHA says.
The company also was issued violations for exposing workers to struck-by hazards. Workers were using rigging and a lift-hook attached to an excavator bucket for handling pipe that “was missing the flipper safety latch.” It was also issued citations for not providing a safe way to exit the trench and for spoil piles placed within 2 feet of the trench edge.
Then on June 4, OSHA inspectors reported workers for K T Carter Contracting Inc. were in a 12-foot-deep trench without cave-in protection in Jacksonville. Inspectors initiated removal of the employees in the Jacksonville-based company’s trench.
K T Carter Contracting was issued proposed penalties totaling $146,803 on November 13 for inadequate cave-in protection, no safe way to exit the trench, and spoil piles placed within 2 feet of the trench edge.
