AVON CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, AVON CONSTRUCTION CO., INC. — a industry sector 00 facility located at 854 TRAPELO ROAD, POLE 274/103, WALTHAM, MA 02154 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 2 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $28,000.00. The inspection case was opened on 1998-05-04.

Federal investigators determined that one or more violations at this facility were committed willfully — meaning the employer either knowingly failed to comply with OSHA standards or acted with plain indifference to employee safety. Willful violations carry the highest penalty multipliers under the OSH Act.

State Context: Within MA, this facility's penalty places it at the 99th percentile among 60,671 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $2,824.83.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 2 citations spanning 1 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 2 willful — The employer intentionally and knowingly committed the violation, demonstrating either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the OSH Act or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning July 1, 1998 with the latest abatement deadline set for July 6, 1998. Of the 2 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $28,000.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $14,000.00 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement record for Avon Construction Co., Inc. reveals a critical, high-gravity failure to adhere to fundamental excavation safety protocols. The issuance of two separate citations under 29 CFR 1926.652(a)(1) demonstrates that the employer knowingly or with plain indifference allowed employees to work in unprotected trenches, exposing them to catastrophic cave-in hazards. In the construction industry, trenching fatalities are frequently the result of such systemic neglect regarding shoring, shielding, or sloping requirements. The classification of both violations as "Willful" is legally significant, as it indicates OSHA determined the company possessed a heightened awareness of the legal requirements yet purposefully disregarded them or acted with utter indifference to worker safety. This designation moves the incident beyond simple negligence into the realm of intentional non-compliance. The gravity rating of 10—the highest possible—coupled with a total penalty of $28,000 for just two items, underscores the extreme lethality of the site conditions. While these penalty amounts reflect the statutory maximums of the era, the concentration on a single standard suggests a systemic breakdown in the firm’s safety management system rather than an isolated lapse. This pattern indicates a fundamental absence of a "competent person" on-site capable of identifying and correcting trenching hazards before worker entry.