WA irrigation district serving Benton County fined $168K over worker safety
An irrigation district that serves customers in Benton and Yakima counties has been fined $168,000 for endangering its workers.
The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries says this is the second time in a year that the Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District has not protected its workers from the dangers of trenching.
In December an L&I inspector found and photographed district workers inside a trench deeper than 4 feet with no safe way to get out and no protective box or shield to prevent a cave-in, according to L&I.
There also was a pile of excavated soil near the edge of the trench, adding weight and increasing the danger of collapse, according to L&I.
Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District got the workers out of the trench, but refused to give inspectors full access to the site, according to L&I.
The state inspectors returned with a warrant the next day and began interviewing workers who had been in the trench the day before.
The irrigation district is appealing the fine.
L&I said the district had been cited for unsafe trenching practices just three months before the December inspection and had been required to provide training for their workers on trenching safety. It was fined $7,200 then.
“SVID told us they trained there workers and even hired a company to help them reduce injury claims, but here we are, just a couple of months later, citing them for the same problems,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
‘Willful violations’
After the December inspection, the district was cited for four willful serious violations. It also was cited for four willful serious violations in the earlier incident in 2022.
A willful violation is cited when a business owner or contractor intentionally ignores a hazard or rule. A violation is considered when a worker is exposed to a hazard that can cause injury or death.
Any time state inspectors observe a trench, regardless of why they are on a work site, as L&I responds to a national spike in worker deaths from trench and excavation cave-ins, L&I said.
“Unsafe trenches have killed dozens of workers across the United States in the last few years, including five here in Washington state,” Blackwood said.
In February, a Kent contractor was fined more than $400,000 when the dirt walls of a trench at a new housing development collapsed, burying and killing a construction worker.
Deaths from cave-ins are largely preventable by following simple safety rules, according to L&I.
Any trench 4 feet or deeper must have protection like braced, sloped or benched walls. Workers must have an easy way to get in and out of the trench safely, like a ramp or ladder.
The trench is required to be inspected each day by someone competent in evaluating trench safety.
As a result of L&I’s focus on trench safety enforcement, the Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District is now considered a severe violator and will have greater scrutiny, according to L&I.
Penalty money paid in connection with a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers who have been seriously injured and the families of those who have died on the job.
