OSHA Proposes $112,000 in Fines for Tuscaloosa Contractor

The federal government has proposed $112,000 in fines for GILCO Contracting of Tuscaloosa, Ala., after an employee was seriously injured at the city’s Cottondale Sewer Project, labor officials said Monday.

“A worker was seriously injured because this employer ignored safe trenching practices and failing to use safety equipment available at the site,” said Roberto Sanchez, the Birmingham-area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The worker who was standing in a filled rock-box bucket was being lowered into an excavation site on April 23 when the soil under the equipment collapsed. The stones spilled and pinned the worker under the bucket in an 18-foot-deep trench. Rescuers removed the employee, but he sustained a fractured leg and crushed arm that had to amputated.

GILCO was cited for two willful violations totaling $100,000 in fines for not providing a safe means for workers to enter excavations and protecting employees from cave-ins. Other fines involved claims of insufficient training and a repeat citation about worksite hazards.

The company has 15 days to contest the citations and proposed fines. A company spokesman declined comment Monday, citing an ongoing investigation.