20,732 West Valley Construction Co., Inc.

EXCAVATIONS - PROTECTION FROM CAVE-INS
Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 1541.1(a) (2005) - Employer failed to provide cave-in protection in an excavation where two employees repaired a water pipe valve, and it did not meet the exceptions to the safety order, so a violation was established. However, the Division failed to prove there was a substantial probability of serious harm, so the serious classification was reduced to general. The Division also failed to support some of its penalty calculation ratings. For these reasons, the penalty was recalculated from $8,435 to $225.