ID Contractor Files Appeal Against OSHA Findings in Fatal Trench Collapse

Hard Rock Construction of Idaho has formally appealed U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) findings claiming the company failed to properly train and protect its employees and that those failures resulted in the deaths of two of the company's workers.

The two workers died after a trench they were working in collapsed on May 3. A third worker was injured — possibly permanently disabled — in the trench collapse. A photograph one of the workers took just before the collapse shows the three workers in the trench without any cave-in protection.

If negotiations between OSHA and Hard Rock Construction fail to produce an agreement the issue would go to a judge to settle the dispute.

OSHA also fined Hard Rock Construction $77,319 for the violations.

(more on Hard Rock Construction's appeal of OSHA's claims...)