WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Pennsylvania excavation company faces charges and a $106,057 penalty from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over worksite trenching hazards.
According to OSHA, after receiving complaints, the agency conducted an investigation and found Spear Excavating LLC's excavation site in Malvern, Pennsylvania, was at risk of cave-ins due to accumulating water.
"Spear Excavating LLC willfully exposed its employees to cave-in hazards by putting production ahead of safety," OSHA Philadelphia area office director Theresa Downs said in a statement. "Trench collapses and cave-ins continue to be among the greatest risks to construction workers' lives."
The citations issued against Spear include equipment not legibly marked for its designated purpose and equipment that exposed employees to electrical hazards, according to OSHA's report https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TheToyFactoryLLC_1302730.pdf. Spear has 15 days from the time it received the citations to adhere, contest or request a conference regarding the charges, OSHA said.