Danbury contractor faces nearly $145,000 in OSHA fines

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2050525/

Wed. November 26, 2008; Posted: 06:17 AM

DANBURY, Nov 26, 2008 (The News-Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A city contractor faces nearly $145,000 in fines for allegedly sending a worker into a trench that was in danger of collapsing.

Sand Cut Properties LLC of 65 Main St. was at a construction site at 4 Sandcut Road in Brookfield on May 28, when a worker was allegedly sent into a trench to retrieve a piece of equipment, according to information supplied by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

An OSHA employee from Bridgeport was at the job site the day of the alleged incidents because the agency had received an anonymous complaint regarding work there.

The trench was between 6 to 9 feet deep, according to OSHA, and had been weakened by water and a 15-foot pile of material that had been placed at its edge.

The trench did not have the required cave-in protection, according to OSHA.

"There was no excuse for sending this employee to work inside an unprotected, unstable and collapsing excavation," said Robert Kowalski, OSHA's Bridgeport area director.

"This instruction ignores basic safety requirements and common sense. This was an imminent danger situation and the employee was fortunate not to be crushed or buried alive," Kowalski said.

FULL story at link.