Inspectors found workers in a deep trench without safety measures at a site managed by Osprey Group LLC in Kent, Washington.

 Osprey Group was not registered as a construction contractor; another contractor had permitted the project under his company's registration on Osprey’s behalf.

L&I proposed safety penalties of $170,000 against Osprey for six willful safety violations, including lack of cave-in protection and no safe way to exit the trench.

L&I is intensifying trench safety enforcement due to a recent rise in trench deaths, with fines from citations benefiting the workers' compensation supplemental pension fund.