The Occupational Safety and Health Administration—more commonly known as OSHA—has cited Cherokee Pride Construction Inc. of Sapulpa for serious violations related to excavation work, according to a press release by the US Department of Labor.
OSHA says that inspectors arrived at a Broken Arrow job site in September 2020 and found employees in standing water as they installed water lines in two trenches as part of a street widening project. The press release says that OSHA determined “the company failed to ensure required cave-in protection was used, an appropriate means of escape existed and that workers wore hard hats, as required.”
It’s not the first time that Cherokee Pride has come under fire from OSHA, which cited the company for two willful, four repeat, and three serious violations, and has proposed penalties totaling $205,500. The agency also cited the company three times in 2017 for failing to provide trench workers personal protective equipment, a means of escape and hazard recognition training, allowing standing water inside the excavation sites, and failing to fix ladder defects.
“OSHA recognizes the incidents of workers seriously hurt from trenching and excavation hazards,” said OSHA Area Director Steven A. Kirby in Oklahoma City. “The agency’s national emphasis program on trenching and excavation focuses its resources on preventing the potential for collapses.”
Cherokee Pride Construction has 15 business days from receipt of citation and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Cherokee Pride Construction has in the past been awarded numerous bids by the City of Sapulpa for various projects, from road paving to waterline improvements. A search of the city’s Municipal Authority meetings shows that Cherokee Pride has been awarded at least 8 construction projects by the City since June of 2019.
