The Labor Department announced October 13 that OSHA cited six construction employers for willful and serious safety violations at the Monroe Commons project, also known as the Magna Square development, in Monroe, New York. The agency proposed a combined $648,094 in penalties. The site is a planned four-story, roughly 408,000 square-foot mixed-use building with retail, offices and a 39-room hotel on an 18-acre property. OSHA said it responded to an allegation of struck-by and collapse hazards tied to a large excavation at the site. Inspectors found a steep, unstable embankment nearly 75 feet high that was not adequately sloped or shored. Trench and excavation work is one of construction's deadliest exposures because a cave-in can bury workers in seconds. The agency issued a total of 23 serious and five willful citations to the project's general contractor and five subcontractors. The violations covered failing to protect employees from cave-in, struck-by and chemical hazards, neglecting to shield workers from falling or rolling rock and soil from the excavation face, and not ensuring a competent person inspected excavations daily. General contractor Advanced Plan and Build LLC and subcontractors Parkstone Inc. and Obstacle Systems Inc., operating as Drip Drop Waterproofing Inc., and The Paving Masters LLC received willful citations for exposing employees to cave-in and struck-by hazards. OSHA also cited Advanced Plan and Build and The Paving Masters for a willful failure to ensure the excavation, which was between 21 and 75 feet deep, was designed by a registered professional engineer. Subcontractors Century Max Industries Corp., DelValle Contractor and Prime Structure Inc. were cited for serious violations for failing to protect employees from cave-in and struck-by hazards, and DelValle and the Drip Drop Waterproofing entities also received serious citations tied to fall protection and chemical hazards. Proposed penalties by company: Advanced Plan and Build $175,444, Parkstone and Obstacle Systems $198,615, The Paving Masters $188,684, Century Max $46,340, Prime Structure $19,860 and DelValle Contractor $19,151. These are proposed penalties, not final orders. Each employer has 15 business days from receiving its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, and penalty amounts can change through that process. Workers and employers can check OSHA's establishment search for updates and use the agency's free compliance-assistance resources on trenching and excavation safety.