OSHA Slaps Houston Contractor With $125,000 Penalty

By, Robert Box

Exclusive to San Marcos Corridor News

As an OSHA Compliance Officer drove by a subdivision on Shepherd Street in Houston, Texas, on February 11, 2016, workers were observed performing trench and excavation work unsafely. OSHA Compliance Officers have authority to conduct inspections on-the-spot when unsafe trenching and excavation work is witnessed, even while driving by.

Oscar Renda Contracting, Inc. of Roanoke, Texas (a Fort Worth suburb) is a national pipeline, well and wastewater construction company and was allegedly performing work unsafely in plain view of passers-by, including the OSHA Compliance Officer.

According to the OSHA press release, Oscar Renda Contracting allowed workers in unprotected excavations and permit required confined spaces. Citations were issued to the contractor on July 28, 2016, including 1 willful, 11 Serious, and 2 other violations for a total of $124,300 in penalties.

The OSHA investigation is the sixth in ten years according to the OSHA press release, but www.osha.gov shows nine agency visits to the contractor over the past ten years, issuing eight total citations. Nationwide, Oscar Renda Contracting has been visited by OSHA nineteen times and cited for twenty-two violations in ten years. With visits as frequent as that, it’s amazing that Repeat citations were not issued on this most recent visit.

For the February inspection by the Houston OSHA South Office, the following violations were found at the contractor’s site:

•  Allowed unnecessary material and unsupported equipment within 2 feet of the excavation’s edge.
• Failed to train employees in the safe performance of their duties.
• Did not verify that permit-required spaces were safe for entry.
• Failed to provide rescue and emergency equipment.
• Did not ensure that the required supervisor checked all appropriate entries on the permit before allowing employees to enter.

“Six times in 10 years, we have found Oscar Renda Contracting risking the lives of its employees in underground trenches. Imagine the fear of working below ground when thousands of pounds of soil begin to fall on you and the likelihood that you will be buried alive because your employer valued a contract more than your life,” said Mark Briggs, OSHA’s area director in the Houston South office. “OSHA remains firm in its commitment to hold employers accountable for their actions when fundamental common sense and humanity are not enough to make them change.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. 

Safety First Consulting helps businesses identify OSHA compliance issues in their workplaces, manage their safety programs, and we become accountable for the results. In addition to offering custom written safety programs for companies, Safety First Consulting provides required safety training, industrial hygiene sampling, noise sampling, and workplace inspections.