OSHA proposes $648,094 in penalties against 6 contractors over one NY excavation

The U.S. Department of Labor cited six New York and New Jersey construction employers for willful and serious safety violations involving excavation hazards at the Monroe Commons project, also known as Magna Square, a planned 4-story, roughly 408,000-square-foot mixed-use commercial building in Monroe, New York. OSHA, which responded to an allegation of struck-by and collapse hazards at a large excavation on the site, proposed a combined $648,094 in penalties in a release dated Oct. 13, 2026.

Full release not fetched (HTTP 403). Facts come from the feed excerpt only, so employer names, roles and per-employer amounts are unconfirmed. The point for owners is that six companies were cited over one excavation. Being the sub who did not dig the trench is not a defense. Split evenly, the penalties average about $108,000 per employer, though the actual split is not in the excerpt. Take a 20-person plumbing contractor running sewer and water laterals with 3 crews. A written daily trench inspection by a named competent person takes about 15 minutes per open excavation. With 3 trenches open, that is roughly 16 hours a month, or about $720 at $45/hr. One willful citation can cost more than ten years of that time. GCs, site-work, plumbing and electrical contractors who trench or put crews in other people's excavations should care. Cleaning firms, agencies, and accounting and law practices can ignore this.