ConDig (14-May-18).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is set to fine All Power Construction Corp and staffing agency Labor Finders of Tennessee Inc over a trench collapse that killed a temporary employee installing sewer lines.

All Power Construction faces $139,684 in proposed penalties and Labor Finders of Tennessee faces the maximum allowed of $12,934 in proposed penalties.

OSHA said that it had issued willful and serious citations to All Power Construction for allowing employees to work in a trench without cave-in protection, failing to provide a safe means to enter and exit the trench and not having a competent person inspect the trench to identify potential hazards.

The agency also cited the staffing agency for one serious violation for not ensuring that employees were trained on trenching and excavation hazards.

“Employers are responsible for ensuring their worksites are free of recognized hazards,” said Ramona Morris, OSHA Birmingham area office director.

“This tragedy could have been prevented had the employer followed the necessary steps to ensure that protective systems were used.”

The investigation was part of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation.

In December, OSHA fined a Garden City, Georgia-based contractor $130,552 for failing to protect workers from a potential trench collapse while installing water lines.

A 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released in December showed that the rate of fatal injuries in the construction industry increased 6% in 2016 to 991 worker deaths compared with 937 in 2015.

BLS figures showed that falls, struck by objects, electrocutions and caught-in/between accounted for 63.7% of all construction worker deaths in last year. There was a rise in total construction worker deaths for each of the “Fatal Four” in 2016.