PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a tens of thousands of dollars in connection to a trench collapse in Portage earlier this year that trapped a worker for hours.
The collapse happened the morning of May 31 along W. Centre Avenue just east of Angling Road. The Portage Department of Public Safety says the utility worker was installing a fiber-optic line in a 10-foot deep trench when the walls fell in. Emergency crews painstakingly dug him out, careful not to further destabilize the trench, and eventually freeing him after about five hours. Firefighters said at the time that he sustained serious injuries, including an injury to his leg.
Crews rescue man from collapsed trench in Portage
MIOSHA hit Internattional, Inc. with an initial penalty of $72,460 for a total five violations.
The largest fine was $70,000 for a “willful-serious” violation, with MIOSHA saying Internattional was responsible for workers “engaged in construction activities within an unsupported open excavation greater than 5 feet deep.”