OSHA Proposes $380,664 in Fines Contractor Over Repeat Trench Violations
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $380,664 in penalties against Always Underground LLC, a Frankfort, Illinois-based utility construction company, after investigators observed workers in an unprotected trench deeper than 8 feet. The inspection was part of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on Trenching.
- OSHA cited three repeat violations: failing to provide a safe means of egress, failing to install a trench protective system against cave-ins and failing to keep excavated materials and equipment at least two feet from the trench edge.
- The agency also issued one serious violation for failing to provide hard hats to protect workers from falling objects.
- 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 findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Union: Michigan DOT Cited over Fatal Work Zone Crash
- The Michigan State Employees Association says it has been told that the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is preparing a report citing the Michigan Department of Transportation for failing to follow required lane closure procedures when two employees were killed while working in the roadway. The crash on US-127 near Holt Road on May 26 killed MDOT workers Bruce Wagner, 51, and Steve Spenle, 49.
- MDOT said it has not been notified of any MIOSHA findings or citations and cannot comment further because a criminal investigation is ongoing. MIOSHA also told News 10 it has an open investigation into MDOT’s Mason Maintenance Garage.
- Tyler Reck, 24, of DeWitt, was charged in August with two counts of reckless driving causing death and two counts of moving violation causing death in a work zone. The case is still open.
- The union is calling for MDOT to do more to protect workers, saying policies have not kept pace with changes in technology and vehicles. State figures show Michigan work zone deaths rose 17% last year, while national fatalities decreased overall.
Scaffolding Firm Fined £20,000 After Lorry Driver Struck by Falling Metal Board
- 7 Towers Scaffolding Limited, of Ahoghill, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, was fined 20,000 British pounds ($26,344) at Belfast Crown Court after admitting it failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees after a lorry driver for the company, was struck on the head by a steel scaffolding board and later died of his injuries in 2025.
- The driver was collecting dismantled scaffolding at a Belfast Health and Social Care Trust site when the incident occurred. He was not wearing a hard hat when he walked into the zone and was hit by a board seen “flying through the air.”
- The health and safety executive for Northern Ireland found the company had not adequately managed and controlled the exclusion zone during dismantling. There was no security fence around the scaffolding and not enough measures to keep people not involved in the work away from it.
- The defense said that by pleading guilty, the company accepted that the worker should not have been in the exclusion zone. It said he entered to help the scaffolders, which was not officially part of his job.