CAL/OSHA Fines 2 Firms for Exposing Workers to Cave-In Hazards in Piedmont

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined two Bay Area construction businesses more than $300,000 for exposing workers to cave-in hazards at a residential construction site in Piedmont, Cal/OSHA officials said today. The agency said EMI Design & Construction Inc. of San Mateo and Salt Light Investments Inc. of Berkeley violated Cal/OSHA’s order to stop work until the imminent hazard was abated.

Christine Baker, the director of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, said excavation collapses and cave-ins cause serious workplace injuries and fatalities. Baker said in a statement, “Citations remind employers to abide by Cal/OSHA stop work orders that are issued to protect workers from unsafe conditions.”

Cal/OSHA cited EMI Design & Construction, a general contractor, for 10 workplace safety violations, including two willful and three serious in nature, and proposed a total of $164,465 in penalties. The agency said Salt Light Investments, a construction project management company, was cited for three workplace safety violations including two that were willful in nature, and proposed $140,375 in penalties.

Cal/OSHA said the violations were discovered during an April 20 investigation at the residential construction site. The agency said its investigators found 11-foot un-shored walls and issued a stop-work order that same day to address the unsafe excavation. But three weeks later, Cal/OSHA learned that the employers ordered workers back to the site, despite failing to correct the imminent hazards, the agency said.

Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said the agency “issues stop work orders when there’s evidence of an imminent hazard to workers.” Sum said, “The employers’ blatant refusal to protect their workers from a cave-in hazard put their employees’ lives at risk.”

Cal/OSHA said both EMI Design & Construction and Salt Light Investments were issued willful violations for failing to shore up an excavation up to 11 feet and for a lack of a design for proper shoring as required. The agency said EMI Design & Construction was also cited for three serious violations for an unguarded floor opening, an unguarded wall opening and unguarded exposed rebar ends.

Cal/OSHA said a similar hazard caused a fatal accident at a Milpitas construction site in January 2012. In that case, according to Cal/OSHA, a construction employer ordered a worker back to an excavation site with un-shored 12-foot walls three days after a stop-work order had been issued because of the hazard. The walls caved in, killing the worker.

Cal/OSHA said it conducted a criminal investigation, which led to two years’ jail time for both the construction company owner and the project manager. Cal/OSHA said a serious violation is cited when there’s a realistic possibility that death or serious harm could result from the hazardous condition.

The agency said a willful violation is cited when the employer is aware of the law and violates it, or when the employer is aware of the hazardous condition and does not take reasonable steps to address it. Officials at EMI Design and Construction and Salt Light Investments weren’t immediately available for comment on the case.

By Bay City News

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