OSHA has cited an Ohio plumbing company whose 33-year-old employee was crushed to death in June while he was digging soil out of a 12-foot trench. The trench walls around James Rogers collapsed – burying him in thousands of pounds of dirt at the site of a new home under construction in Washington Township. Rescue workers recovered his body a few hours later.
An investigation completed Nov. 8 found his employer, KRW Plumbing LLC, did not provide trench cave-in protection for its employees. OSHA cited the company for two willful and two serious safety violations and proposed penalties of $274,359. Rogers was part of a crew installing a sewer line at a home under construction. The agency’s investigation found earlier that same day, a portion of the trench had collapsed and he was able to escape. Agency inspectors also learned the same worker was involved in a trench collapse about a month earlier at another construction site, because trench cave-in protection was not provided, leading OSHA to open a separate investigation in October 2016. According to this report from WHIO, Rogers posted an entry on Facebook about his experience with that incident.
“This man’s life could have been saved by following OSHA’s safety standards that require cave-in protection in a trench more than 5 feet deep,” says Ken Montgomery, OSHA’s area director in Cincinnati. “Excavating companies need to re-examine their safety procedures to ensure they are taking all available precautions – including installing trench boxes, shoring and other means to prevent unexpected shifts in the soil that can cause walls to collapse. Soil and other materials must also be kept at least two feet from the edge of trench to prevent the spoils from falling back into the open trench.”
The victim is one of 23 workers killed and 12 others injured in trench collapses this year. Last month, two workers in Boston were killed when a water main gave way and flooded a deep trench where they were working.
Trench collapses are rarely survivable, according to OSHA. One cubic yard of soil can weigh up to 3,000 lbs. – the weight of a small automobile – giving a worker in a trench little chance of survival when walls of soil collapse.
“Trench deaths have more than doubled nationwide since last year – an alarming and unacceptable trend that must be halted,” says David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “There is no excuse. These fatalities are completely preventable by complying with OSHA standards that every construction contractor should know.”
While investigating the fatality OSHA found KRW Plumbing:– Did not provide trench cave-in protection.
– Failed to protect workers from excavated material failing or rolling into a trench or failing from inside the trench walls.
– Failed to trained workers in recognizing trench hazards.
Based in Jamestown, Ohio, KRW Plumbing has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
