Proposed fine for trench collapse

• A Breese, Illinois, contractor who ignored a city engineer’s repeated verbal and written instructions to use trench cave-in protection faces penalties after federal workplace safety inspectors found the employer failed to protect workers installing storm sewer lines.
• OSHA inspectors found five employees of Groundworks Contracting Inc. in trenches as deep as 18 feet on five occasions during its investigation from sat the Silvercreek Crossing residential housing development.
• Inspectors determined the employer put workers at risk by failing to provide required cave-in protection and head protection and by not training employees to recognize cave-in hazards.
• OSHA cited Groundworks Contracting for one willful violation, four serious violations, and one other-than-serious violation of federal trenching and excavation standards, and proposed penalties of $77,147.
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Hazardous work bill could pass in Oregon

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature could sign a bill into law that codifies Oregon workers’ right to refuse hazardous work without retaliation or discrimination from employers.
• Senate Bill 907 bars employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees who refuse to do work that would expose them to serious hazards, provided the employee acted “in good faith and with no reasonable alternative.”
• Oregon Farm Bureau opposed the bill, claiming it would complicate OSHA’s ability to enforce workplace safety measures and add liability for family farms that are being priced and regulated out of business in this state.
• The rule is not specific to agricultural labor but was a legislative priority for farmworker advocates in this session.
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OSHA scrutinizing New England seafood industry