A willful violation is OSHA’s most serious citation category: the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement (purposeful/disregard) or acted with ‘plain indifference’ to employee safety (i.e., had knowledge of the hazard or demonstrated intentional disregard).
Within 15 working days of receiving the citation the employer can: (1) abate the condition and pay the penalty, (2) request an informal conference with the OSHA Area Director to discuss violations/abatement/penalty (a voluntary, non‑binding meeting where evidence, abatement plans and settlement can be negotiated), or (3) file a written notice of contest (which initiates adjudication at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission).
OSHA’s proposed penalty starts with a gravity‑based amount (severity × probability) and then is adjusted using statutory and policy factors—employer size, good‑faith, inspection history, and possible Quick‑Fix reductions; penalties are also adjusted annually for inflation. Proposed amounts can change during settlement, informal conference, or if reductions/increases apply (e.g., history, size, good‑faith, failure‑to‑abate, or egregious case handling).
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent federal adjudicative body that decides contested OSHA citations and penalties. To contest OSHA’s findings an employer files a Notice of Contest with OSHA’s Area Office (within 15 working days); the case is then docketed at OSHRC where hearings, discovery, and administrative adjudication take place and the Commission issues a final decision or order.
Key OSHA trenching/excavation requirements come from 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P: employers must protect employees from cave‑ins (e.g., sloping, benching, shielding/shoring, or use of trench boxes), provide safe access/egress, inspect excavations daily and after hazards (e.g., rain), maintain excavated‑soil/rock at least 2 feet from edges, and use protective systems designed by a qualified person for trenches 5 feet or deeper (or as required by the standard).
The DOL/OSHA news release does not state whether any workers were injured in the trench collapse; the release only describes the hazards found and the citation. That specific injury information is not provided in the release.
OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) for high‑hazard industries directs agency resources and inspection priority toward industries/activities with elevated injury/fatality risk (e.g., trenching, construction). Under an NEP OSHA increases targeted inspections, outreach, and compliance assistance in the covered sectors and uses specific triggers/inspection criteria to focus enforcement where hazards are most serious or frequent.
Protective restraints for excavations mean engineered or accepted protective systems (sloping/benching, shoring, shielding such as trench boxes) that prevent cave‑ins; hard hats are required under OSHA standards to protect workers from struck‑by hazards such as suspended loads—workers beneath or near suspended loads must wear head protection and avoid standing under loads because suspended loads can fall and cause serious injury or death.