Biszko Contracting Corp. of Fall River faces $36,400 in potential fines for allegedly failing to supply cave-in protection at a work site on Lenox Street in Norwood, Mass., the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today.
OSHA said it cited Biszko with willful and serious violations of safety standards after an OSHA inspector who was driving past the Lenox Street site saw the excavation and stopped to inspect it. According to the agency, that Nov. 8 inspection found an employee working in the 7.3-foot-deep straight-walled trench with no cave-in protection.
Federal standards require that all trenches 5 feet and deeper be guarded against collapse.
Biszko Contracting was cited with one willful violation, carrying a proposed fine of $35,000, for lack of cave-in protection; and one serious citation, carrying a fine of $1,400, for lack of head protection. The company has 15 days to appeal the citation to OSHA’s area director or to an independent review panel.
Additional information on OSHA and federal standards, including a trenching “Quick Card,”is available at www.osha.gov.
