OSHA Finds Contractor Endangered Workers in Unguarded Trenches
Boston Waterproofing & Construction Corp. faces $451,694 in penalties for the violations.
- By Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Jul 15, 2024
OSHA investigators discovered Boston Waterproofing & Construction Corp. repeatedly exposed employees to hazardous conditions at residential worksites in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
According to a recent release, the company violated safety regulations at worksites in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 10, 2023, and in Warwick, Rhode Island, on December 2, 2023. At both locations, untrained day laborers were recruited and ordered into unsafe excavations. Tragically, both unguarded trenches collapsed, burying and injuring one worker at each site.
The resulting OSHA investigation revealed details about the company’s practices. In Arlington, the employer not only failed to rescue the trapped worker but also took away the employee's phone and struck the individual to prevent them from seeking medical help. At the Warwick site, the injured worker's request for emergency services was denied, and the employer transported the worker to an urgent care facility in a personal vehicle, abandoning the injured person there.
“Boston Waterproofing & Construction Corp. employed an especially disturbing business model that appears deliberately designed to exploit day laborers, who the employer places in clearly dangerous conditions without required training and adequate protection,” OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in Boston said in a statement. “The company’s brazen and callous actions led OSHA to issue willful citations in both cases as we seek to hold the employer accountable for its illegal, unsafe and frankly inhumane conduct.”
The Warwick inspection uncovered additional misconduct. The employer caused significant damage at the worksite, refused to repair it and subsequently threatened the homeowner who reported the damage. These actions led OSHA to issue severe penalties totaling $451,694, $225,847 for each inspection.
Boston Waterproofing & Construction Corp. failed to respond to OSHA’s citations and penalties, resulting in the penalties becoming final on April 18, 2024, and May 14, 2024. The employer has forfeited any appeal rights.
About the Author
Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.