The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday cited a Pennsylvania contractor and a Pittsburgh staffing agency for failing to protect temporary workers from a potential trench collapse.

Construction contractor Kinsey Corp. was contracted to install sanitary sewer, storm sewer and other underground utility lines at the Settlers Pointe housing development in Pittsburgh, according to OSHA. Kinsey contracted Gillmann Services to provide temporary employees for pipe installation work. After receiving an anonymous telephone tip, OSHA initiated an inspection on Sept. 15, 2015, and found workers and temporary workers working in a trench as deep as 18 feet without cave-in protections.

OSHA issued Kinsey a willful citation for failing to take measures to protect company employees and one temporary employee in a trench as deep as 18 feet. The agency also identified serious violations related to safety hazards that endangered employees as they installed a storm sewer and related structures.

Gillmann Services provided Kinsey with temporary employees for the pipe installation work. OSHA cited Gillmann with a serious violation for failure to train its employees prior to allowing them to perform trenching and excavation work.

The proposed penalties are $37,600 for Kinsey and $7,000 for Gillmann.

This is the first time Gillmann has been cited for not properly training an employee.

“Gillmann Services was cited for failure to train an employee who was working in a trench,” David Gillespie, Gillmann’s VP of safety and risk management, said in a statement. “This citation is still under review and an informal in person conference is scheduled with OSHA.”

At the time of the citation, Gillmann was not aware that its employee was working in a trench, according to Gillespie.

“They were working under the control and supervision of our client,” he said. “Gillmann takes safety training very seriously and our employee, as with all employees, was provided safety training for the environment we were told he would be working. When we were made aware of the situation we immediately removed our employee and brought him to our local field office and trained him on trenching operations.”

“Both Kinsey Corp. and Gillmann Services failed to provide the required training and take necessary precautions to protect their workers from the serious dangers associated with trenching and excavation,” said Christopher Robinson, director of OSHA’s Pittsburgh Area Office.

“Host employers and staffing agencies are jointly responsible for maintaining a safe work environment for all workers; this includes ensuring that OSHA's training requirements are met, especially when you consider two workers die each month nationally in trench and excavation incidents,” Robinson said.

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