{"id":22294,"date":"2024-08-09T16:30:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T16:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=787837"},"modified":"2024-08-09T16:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T16:30:08","slug":"oklahoma-contractor-faces-85k-fine-over-fatal-trench-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2024\/08\/09\/oklahoma-contractor-faces-85k-fine-over-fatal-trench-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Contractor Faces $85K Fine Over Fatal Trench Collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/social\/opengraph\/ij-social-default-1200x630.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2024\/08\/09\/787837.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2024\/08\/09\/787837.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>An Edmond, Oklahoma contractor with a history of workplace safety violations dating back to 2018, including three related to the dangers in underground trenches, was found disregarding U.S. Department of Labor regulations.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2024, investigators with the department\u2019s <a title=\"Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Home\" href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/\">Occupational Safety and Health Administration<\/a> learned a 61-year-old pipe layer employed by Jerlow Construction Co. suffered fatal injuries when a 9-foot deep trench collapsed at a residential work site near Shawnee. The agency determined the employer allowed their employees to work in an excavation without proper protections, including shielding, benching, sloping or other devices. The incident occurred as employees worked below the surface to install an 8-inch water line.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-topics=\"contractors\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cNo one should ever be allowed to enter or work in an excavation without required protective systems in place and without inspection of the trench by a qualified person,\u201d explained OSHA Area Director Steven Kirby in Oklahoma City. \u201cDespite numerous warnings and notices of violations for failing to protect employees in trenches, Jerlow Construction has joined the all-too-long list of employers whose defiance of federal regulations resulted in a preventable loss of life. Their failures are inexcusable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OSHA issued citations to Jerlow Construction for one repeat violation and three serious violations following this incident\u2019s investigation. Infractions include failing to provide adequate systems to prevent trench cave-ins, train employees on how to recognize hazards related to excavations and perform daily inspections to verify safe entry conditions for the excavation. <a title=\"Jerlow Construction Co - Copy of citations - PDF\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/sites\/dolgov\/files\/OPA\/newsreleases\/2024\/08\/OSHA20241621.pdf\">The company faces $85,173 in proposed penalties<\/a>, an amount set by federal statute.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1973, Jerlow Construction Co. is a licensed underground utility construction company that installs and services sanitary and storm sewers and water mains for residential developments and commercial projects.<\/p>\n<p>Jerlow Construction Co. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA\u2019s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source: OSHA<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/contractors\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Contractors<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/oklahoma\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Oklahoma<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"787837\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! 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Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>Interested in <em>Contractors<\/em>?<\/h4>\n<p>Get automatic alerts for this topic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 0 Comments An Edmond, Oklahoma contractor with a history of workplace safety violations dating back to 2018, including three related to the dangers in underground trenches, was found disregarding U.S. Department of Labor&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[998,1,80,77],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/oklahoma-contractor-faces-85k-fine-over-fatal-trench-collapse.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}