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Torts/Personal Injury

Jul. 17, 2026

Rethinking liability in the age of outsourcing

Cal/OSHA's trench safety warning underscores a broader legal reality: organizations that fail to assess foreseeable risks before work begins may face liability for their own decisions, regardless of who performs the work.

K. Chike Odiwe

Civil Rights Attorney
The Law Offices of Kenneth C. Odiwe, PC

2880 Zanker Road, Ste 203
San Jose , CA 95134

Fax: (669) 315-4431

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Rethinking liability in the age of outsourcing
Shutterstock

During National Trench Safety Stand Down Week in June, Cal/OSHA urged employers across California to review trench safety requirements and reinforce protections against preventable cave-ins. The agency pointed to approximately 90 trench safety violations tied to worker injuries and fatalities between 2021 and 2025, two fatal trench collapses under investigation in Los Angeles County this year, and recent enforcement actions that produced hundreds of thousands of dollars in pr...

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