A US contractor faces fines of US$169,000 (£108,000) after repeatedly sending workers into an unguarded trench despite being warned of the dangers.

The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration has proposed the fines for Penney Construction in Hartford. The fines are chiefly for exposing its workers to cave-in hazards while repairing a sewer line in a 3m-deep trench.

An inspection by OSHA's Hartford Area Office found that the trench lacked any protection to prevent the walls from collapsing onto workers. The cave-in hazard was intensified by the presence of an unsupported footpath and catch basin overhanging the trench.

Even after being informed that the conditions posed an imminent danger, the employer continued to send workers into the trench. These hazards resulted in citations for two willful violations with US$140,000 in fines. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

There were further serious violations with US$29,000 in fines. These violations involved rocks and soil falling into the trench, not testing the sewer line for hazardous atmospheres, a lack of personal protective equipment and not adequately training the workers to recognize the hazards associated with their work. 

"This employer repeatedly sent its workers into harm's way even after being told that the unguarded trench posed a clear, immediate and potentially deadly threat," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "These workers could have been crushed or buried alive in seconds."

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