Bridge Repair Company Named a Severe Violator after Fatal Trench Collapse
Susquehannah Supply Company has been cited for willful violations, OSHA announced. Proposed penalties in the case total $140,000.
OSHA has issued Susquehannah Supply Company Inc. two willful violations after an employee died in a trench collapse. The employee was working inside a trench on the outside of a bridge abutment when the adjacent trench wall collapsed, burying him in soil.
OSHA also has placed the Williamsport, Pa.-based company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program for a lack of cave-in protection. Proposed penalties in the case total $140,000.
"Susquehanna Supply Company took unacceptable risks with its workers' lives by failing to comply with common-sense safety practices intended to prevent trenching tragedies such as this from occurring," said Mark Stelmack, director of OSHA's Wilkes-Barre office. "Employers who expose workers to cave-in hazards from an unprotected trench place those employees' lives in immediate jeopardy. This will not be tolerated."