HRM 510 Week 8 Assignment 4
Mark Tynes
HRM 510 Week 8 Assignment 4
Professor Gonzales
June 1st, 2014
What was the legal issue in this case?
The legal case in subject is with Williams Construction, a company that was under investigation after a trench collapse, which resulted in the death of Jose Aguiniga, and serious injury to Adam Palomar, two employees with Williams Construction. At the conclusion of the investigation, under the guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Hazards Act, or OSHA, Williams Construction was charged with four violations that resulted in excessive fines. The investigation concluded that Williams Construction failed to instruct employees and managers on recognizing and avoiding dangerous work conditions, failed to ensure that employees did not have to travel more than 25 feet to a safe zone, failed to have an employee that was trained and experienced in trench safety, and failed to make sure that the walls of the air were either sloped or supported. The OSHA investigation concluded that if these regulations were followed, the tragic event could have been avoided. The legal issue is whether or not the courts and the construction company itself should up hold the violations of specific OSHA standards.
Explain what the employer did or failed to do that violated the OSH Act.
Williams Construction failed to do four very important procedures in regards to the regulations of OSHA. The first violation was the failure to provide training to employees and their managers about how to recognize and avoid unsafe working conditions. It was proven that Williams did not provide training for trenching hazards to the two employees working in the trench. Furthermore, none of the supervisors or managers for Williams Construction was familiar with OSHA safety requirements. The second violation consisted of Williams providing only one safe means of escape out the east end of the 45-foot trench. Though it appeared that one of the pumps was
HRM 510 Week 8 Assignment 4
Professor Gonzales
June 1st, 2014
What was the legal issue in this case?
The legal case in subject is with Williams Construction, a company that was under investigation after a trench collapse, which resulted in the death of Jose Aguiniga, and serious injury to Adam Palomar, two employees with Williams Construction. At the conclusion of the investigation, under the guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Hazards Act, or OSHA, Williams Construction was charged with four violations that resulted in excessive fines. The investigation concluded that Williams Construction failed to instruct employees and managers on recognizing and avoiding dangerous work conditions, failed to ensure that employees did not have to travel more than 25 feet to a safe zone, failed to have an employee that was trained and experienced in trench safety, and failed to make sure that the walls of the air were either sloped or supported. The OSHA investigation concluded that if these regulations were followed, the tragic event could have been avoided. The legal issue is whether or not the courts and the construction company itself should up hold the violations of specific OSHA standards.
Explain what the employer did or failed to do that violated the OSH Act.
Williams Construction failed to do four very important procedures in regards to the regulations of OSHA. The first violation was the failure to provide training to employees and their managers about how to recognize and avoid unsafe working conditions. It was proven that Williams did not provide training for trenching hazards to the two employees working in the trench. Furthermore, none of the supervisors or managers for Williams Construction was familiar with OSHA safety requirements. The second violation consisted of Williams providing only one safe means of escape out the east end of the 45-foot trench. Though it appeared that one of the pumps was