Construction Company Fined for Toledo, Ohio, Cave-in

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued WPM Construction Services of Grand Blanc, Mich., one willful and two serious safety citations for failing to adequately protect employees from cave-in and traffic hazards while working on the Schneider Storage Basin Project in Toledo, Ohio.

The company faces penalties of $54,600 as a result of a February inspection.

The willful citation is for allowing workers to install transition sleeves on a 24-inch water main in an excavation that was greater than 8 feet deep without being adequately protected from the potential for a cave-in. Inspectors also found employees working without cave-in protection at depths of 22 feet and adjacent to 32-foot basin walls where sloping angles had not been effectively maintained to prevent cave-in.

The serious citations include failing to require employees to wear head protection and warning vests while working in a trench along a roadway where they were exposed to traffic hazards.

The inspection was conducted under OSHA’s national emphasis program on trenching and excavation.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Source: OSHA