El Paso, Texas, contractor CMD Endeavors Inc. faces $260,848 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines following the agency’s investigation of a fatal trench collapse, OSHA announced August 1.

The agency has cited the employer six times since 2015 for the same violation. It says the contractor could have prevented a 37-year-old employee’s fatal injuries by following federally required safety standards to avoid trench collapses.

Agency investigators determined that a pipe layer for CMD Endeavors was allowed to work in an excavation without a proper protective system. The trench collapsed, causing a piece of asphalt to fall and severely injure the worker, who later died in an area hospital. The City of El Paso had contracted CMD Endeavors for pipework for the Cedar Grove Waterline Replacement project, part of an ongoing citywide initiative, according to OSHA.

The agency cited CMD Endeavors with one willful, one serious, and two repeat violations related to its failures to provide adequate systems to prevent trench cave-ins, stop nearby materials from falling into the trench, ensure a trench exit within 25 feet, and support adjacent pavement.

“Despite repeated citations and warnings about the dangers of unprotected trenches, CMD Endeavors has ignored the hazards for nearly a decade, and now an employee has lost their life,” Diego Alvarado, Jr., OSHA’s El Paso area office director, said in an agency statement.

The high cost of trench noncompliance

OSHA has an ongoing National Emphasis Program (NEP) of outreach, inspection, and enforcement to address trenching and excavation hazards. The agency’s October 1, 2018, NEP replaced a 1985 trenching and excavation special emphasis program.

In 2022, OSHA announced plans for 1,000 excavation inspections following an uptick in trench fatalities that year. Last year, it unveiled a new enforcement policy of “instance-by-instance” citations for “high-gravity” serious violations of several standards, including the agency’s standard for trenching.

Trenching violations can result in substantial OSHA penalties. Late last year, the agency cited a Minnesota contractor for repeat trenching and excavation violations, seeking $1.8 million in penalties. Earlier this year, OSHA cited a Guam contractor for trenching violations, seeking $1,038,918 in penalties.

Trench fatalities can even lead to arrest, prosecution, and jail time. In 2022, a Vail, Colorado, contractor found himself facing felony manslaughter charges and was arrested by local law enforcement. An employee installing residential sewer pipes in Breckenridge, Colorado, suffered fatal injuries when the trench around him caved in.

Another Colorado contractor was sentenced to 10 months in jail and 3 years of probation for a fatal trench collapse at a Granby, Colorado, worksite. The Department of Labor (DOL) Solicitor’s Office has formed a partnership with state and local prosecutors to prosecute employers under state criminal statutes.

Two Connecticut men were arrested following a fatal trench collapse and charged with first-degree manslaughter and first-degree reckless endangerment. The Vernon, Connecticut, police department arrested a construction contractor and an equipment operator. The contractor failed to provide legally required safeguards and ensure they were in place to prevent a trench collapse, according to OSHA.