Contractor Fined $108,500 for Violations in Muskego Construction Project

A company contracted to work on a construction project in Muskego has been fined more than $100,000 after repeatedly failing to comply a safe environment for workers in a trench used to lay pipe.

According to KSTP in Minnesota, MasTec North America, Inc., was cited last week by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The violations say the company exposed workers to “excavation hazards” during the installation of an underground conduit pipe in an unprotected trench in Muskego, Wis.

MasTec is an engineering and construction company  for electrical, oil and gas pipelinesheadquartered in Coral Gables, FL, with a divisional office in Hugo, MN.

Dave Simpson, Director of Public Works for Muskego, was unaware of the violations and said that no city-sponsored projects have contracted with MasTec. The violation was not specific to which project was involved, but indicated Moorland and Janesville Road as the location for the infractions. He felt that the nature of the violations would more likely point to utilities work as part of Waukesha County's reconstruction of Janesville Road.

Muskego Patch has requested further information from the County, including the exact project the violations are related to, and will update the story when that becomes available.

The company faces up to $108,500 in penalty fines, including $70,000 for the first incident, and $38,500 for a repeat offense.

OSHA standards require all excavations five feet or deeper to be protected against collapse.

MasTec North America has been placed in the “Severe Violator Enforcement Program,” in light of the violations. The program requires includes follow-up compliance inspections, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.