Company Working on Metro Rail Fined
Federal safety officials have fined a subcontractor $10,000 for allowing workmen in an unshored 12-foot trench on the Metro Rail project near downtown Los Angeles.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman Frank Gravitt said Tecumseh Construction Co., which is doing electrical work for the subway system, was cited for knowingly placing employees in a life-threatening situation despite warnings from safety engineers.
Gravitt said the employees were working early last month in a trench that was not properly sloped or shored. Inspectors found them at the bottom of the excavation without any protection against possible cave-ins or earth slides, he said.
Tecumseh was warned of the potential danger by the safety engineer for Tutor-Saliba-Perini, general contractor for Metro Rail but failed to correct the situation, the OSHA spokesman said.
The subcontractor has 15 working days to correct the violations and pay the fines or to contest the citation before an OSHA review commission in Washington.
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