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SAFETY / OSHA - 9/5/08

OSHA cites American Air Specialists of Mississippi for willful and serious safety violations

OSHA is proposing $65,450 in penalties against American Air Specialists of Mississippi for one willful and four serious safety violations of OSHA standards.

In March, three employees of the company died in Hattiesburg, Miss., when the west wall of an excavation for a new storm water drain line collapsed, trapping and burying the employees.

"Trenching and excavation work creates hazards to employees, but this tragedy could have been prevented by competent supervisors who would have recognized the hazard and installed a protective system, rather than ignoring the potential danger," said Clyde Payne, director of OSHA's Jackson Area Office.

The company is receiving one willful violation with a proposed penalty of $49,000 for allowing employees to work in an excavation without using a protective shoring system. Four serious safety violations, carrying $16,450 in proposed penalties, for not providing employees with training in excavation hazards, not providing employees with a ladder or stairway to exit the trench, not assigning a competent person to inspect the trench and for the failure of the company's accident program to cover excavation and trenching hazards.

The company has 15 business days to contest the citations, and proposed penalties, before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Jackson Area Office, 3780 I-55 North, Suite 210; telephone 601-965-4606.

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