Unsafe Trenching Citation, Penalty Hit Alabama Excavator

A company installing drain lines at an Alabama grocery story construction site didn’t take steps to protect employees working in a trench from cave-ins, a workplace safety judge ruled.

T.E. Stevens Co. allowed its employees to work in the 7-foot deep trench containing unstable soil without sufficiently sloped walls or shielding to protect them, Sharon Calhoun, an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission administrative law judge, ruled.

She affirmed a serious violation of 29 C.F.R. 1926.652(a)(1) and assessed the $5,390 penalty that the Labor Department requested.

Moses & Moses, PC, in Birmingham, Ala.