Connecticut Contractor Faces Willful Violations After OSHA Finds Trenching Violations
OSHA also proposed $375K in penalties.
- By Alex Saurman
- Feb 01, 2023
OSHA said that a contractor’s lack of safeguards played a part in a worker's death last year, and now the company is facing about $375K in proposed penalties.
According to a news release, in July 2022, a worker was in an eight-foot-deep trench when it caved in, ultimately resulting in the worker’s death, an event that OSHA Area Director Dale Varney in Hartford, Connecticut, said in a news release “should never have happened.”
OSHA alleged that the Connecticut contractor Botticello Inc. did not offer a protective system, did not have inspections performed by a “competent person” and lacked “sufficient means of egress” from the trench.
Because this was not the first time trench-related violations were pointed out to Botticello Inc—OSHA found four serious violations in 2015—the contractor was issued citations for three willful violations and faces proposed penalties of $375,021.
"After a previous OSHA inspection, Botticello Inc. knew of the dangers of working in an unprotected trench and the need to inspect the trench and ensure required effective cave-in protection was in place before any employee entered the trench. The company, however, still chose to ignore these required safeguards and now a worker's family, friends and co-workers are left to grieve,” Varney added.