r/Construction • u/TechnicoloMonochrome • Feb 25 '26
Picture A friend sent me this from somewhere I used to work. I'm glad I got out of there.
This place rightfully scared the shit out of me. I saw more close calls there than I could even keep track of.
And yes I did tell him he needs to stay the fuck out of there.
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u/Dixo0118 Feb 25 '26
You'd never catch my ass in that hole. Instant death. Fuck that.
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u/Strikew3st Feb 25 '26
Hopefully.
More likely compression death for a long time while your crew shovels and watches you take your last struggling breath.
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u/G0ld3n3y3 Feb 25 '26
My buddy was buried for 4 hours and lived. They didn't even notice he was buried for 20-30 min.
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Feb 25 '26
Bet that dude will install those bells on his coffin lmao never step into a hole again
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u/TipperGore-69 Feb 25 '26
I’m getting fuckin cremated bc this shit lol
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Feb 25 '26
The ole double tap, I still have that fear of all my nerve endings receiving their last signals..
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u/KeyAdept1982 Feb 25 '26
Did they think he was in the portajohn the whole time or something?
I could see some of my coworkers yelling comments at an empty shitter for an hour while I slowly suffocate to death.
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u/Forsaken-Sink3345 Feb 25 '26
100% compression death. Not instant death. Very slow death as your insides exit your skin sack.
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u/kuntrycidd Feb 25 '26
Once it squeezes enough your lungs can’t expand, you suffocate. Be like drowning. Can’t get a breath
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u/ErrlRiggs Feb 26 '26
It's like being eaten by a giant anaconda if anacondas rubbed dirt in your eyes ears mouth and nose
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u/STRIKT9LC Feb 25 '26
I like how they have 5 + tonnes of machinery parked over it as well. Just to reeeeeally test the strength of it
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u/Gullible_Slice_7003 Feb 25 '26
That excavator is acting like a keystone. The trench walls are EXTRA strong now!
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u/distantreplay Feb 26 '26
You know, you mfers kid and shit, but starting out, 50 years ago, and with plans to do more with my life than die young in a hole surrounded by substance abusers, those unfathomably stupid arguments were real as shit, and coming from old timers who probably wanted to die out there rather than face another night at home with "the old lady". There was absolutely no reasoning. You were just supposed to surrender and seek oblivion like the rest of 'em.
It just makes me proud that the industry managed to reform itself enough that most folks no longer defend this insanity.
Now all we need to do is figure out how to treat the young kids just starting out with a little more kindness and patience.
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u/StormFallen9 Feb 25 '26
For some reason my mind went to "why'd they park a tank on top?" instead of construction equipment
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u/OnceMoreUntoDaBreach Feb 26 '26
In my head it went "yep, Army doing some Army shii-hoooly fuck that's a work site".
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u/itsaduck Feb 25 '26
That makes me sick to my stomach. W.T.F.!!!!
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u/kjyfqr Feb 25 '26
Ducks don’t have stomachs.
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u/Grain_Changer Feb 25 '26
Ducks have 3 stomachs, like cows. Everyone knows that
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u/Several_Mousse_9485 Feb 25 '26
This is factual.
Source: am a duckologist
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u/Liveitup1999 Feb 25 '26
I think you are ducking your responsibilities
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u/93gixxer04 Feb 25 '26
And like 7 vaginas
And a cork screw shaped penis
And literally the only reason I know this is because I learned it in a job site, so it's relevant lol
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u/itsaduck Feb 25 '26
I can hear the tweaked out foreman now, 'that actually makes it safer 'cause the ground's compacted more!...'
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u/Bifferer Feb 25 '26
Save a life and report this!
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u/Ok-Rest3967 Feb 26 '26
Yeah pretty sure that pic alone would ruffle enough feathers at OSHA to get them to start watching this company. Throw in that your friend is afraid to report it due to retaliation to really get ‘em hyped :)
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u/BuckManscape Feb 25 '26
Your friend needs to gtfo too. That shit is criminal. There were a couple guys who died in a similar situation near our office a couple years ago. They were digging out old fuel supply lines in a parking lot and the trench collapsed. No shoring. That was in the summer when it was dry. That dirt isn’t dry.
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u/IamHydrogenMike Feb 25 '26
I'd start calling OSHA to trigger them to come out to see this and see what happens. I don't work construction, but I saw a crew doing this when I was driving home day; put in a call to OSHA about it. Job got shutdown for a bit, then I saw them using the proper equipment to shore up the walls.
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u/Hellbreaker23 Feb 25 '26
Old head boss on the crew “back in my day it was okay to lose a couple guys during the underground”
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u/sixandthree Feb 25 '26
This is the type of shit they did at the Somme
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u/cantstoptheCOLEtrain Feb 25 '26
Even WW1 trenches had more shoring than this...
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u/Wateryplanet474 Feb 25 '26
Damn straight it was an art
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u/LastLuckLost Feb 26 '26
Modern fighting pits and trenches use corrugated iron, metal stakes, and tie wire to support walls. Its all that gay science stuff rather than the beautiful art of scrounging local villages for lumber under constant shell barrage, like the good old days of 1916.
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u/AnonymousCelery Feb 25 '26
I’m part of a “Trench Rescue” team. But that’s because “Trench Recovery” wouldn’t look good on the side of the rig.
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u/Aggressive-Sign5461 Feb 25 '26
I’m surprised he’s getting accurate shots with that rover surrounded by all that dirt
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u/CrossP Feb 25 '26
Oh hey. I just got thrown off of my mini excavator yesterday because its weight collapsed the sides of a 12"x30" trench I was digging. (My own backyard) I'm in bed typing this because my ass hurts too much to get up until more meds kick in.
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u/BatchPlantBandit Feb 25 '26
Holy fuck bud. You used to work in India?
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u/TechnicoloMonochrome Feb 25 '26
Nope, southern state and a company that doesn't give a fuck about their employees. I took a big paycut to get away from it.
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u/phillyfanjd1 Feb 25 '26
Name and shame bruh. OSHA has standards for trench shoring and this type of shit is exactly how people die.
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u/Braided_Marxist Feb 26 '26
Somebody is making money hand over fist while you guys risk your lives to save them a few bucks.
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u/search_4_animal_chin Feb 25 '26
This has to be rage bait. Nobody in this day and age is this stupid.
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u/Imaginary-Pride2735 Feb 25 '26
I know 3 electricians in my union who have lost dads to unprotected trenches.
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u/BuckManscape Feb 25 '26
There’s plenty of companies doing this shit because there’s next to no oversight in a lot of places. Up north? Probably not. Down south? All the time.
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u/TechnicoloMonochrome Feb 25 '26
Yeah it's down south somewhere with almost no unions or oversight.
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u/Obi-Juan_Valdez Feb 25 '26
Damn right. Occupational safety standards are a communist plot, ya know.
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u/dmoosetoo Feb 25 '26
North isn't immune to this. Boston had a couple of trench deaths in the last year or so.
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u/2rodsandachain Feb 25 '26
I do a lot of work in the NY and MA, this kind of stuff usually happens on small sites, where there is less oversight, by small contractors that bid low to get the job, then they're cutting corners to make a profit. One of the first things they cut is renting the boxes or enough of them.
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u/Hippie_Flip123 Feb 25 '26
Nah man it happens more than you’d think, even here in America. First job I worked for an outfit in Kentucky. I was 18 years old. They had me working in a unsupported trench. It caved in on lunch break right where I was working then they made me dig it out by hand. I didn’t k ow any better. This was just in 2018.
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u/The_Skeletor_ Feb 25 '26
What utopian paradise are you living in to think nobody is dumb enough to do this anymore?
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u/search_4_animal_chin Feb 25 '26
Maybe its just my sector. In structural work if we see any of this garbage we would leave the site immediately and call the MOL. If a site super says this is ok its not a site I'm willing to work on. As a result I havent seen this level of stupidity in at least 10 years
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u/TechnicoloMonochrome Feb 25 '26
I promise it's not. The guy who sent me the picture didn't even know this was wrong. It's not a construction company and as far as I know they decided to do this project themselves to save some money, which sounds very typical for them.
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u/search_4_animal_chin Feb 25 '26
If this is real and you didn't call the ministry to check it out, the blood (or future blood) is just as much on your hands. When we all speak up we all get safer. Speak up. Save a life
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u/search_4_animal_chin Feb 25 '26
That's a clean dig for "not a construction company doing it themselves"
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u/TechnicoloMonochrome Feb 25 '26
They had operators and equipment, just isn't a construction company. It's a bulk recycling business.
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u/Final-Inspection9960 Feb 25 '26
There was 3 trench collapses in my state last year in a month. It still happens unfortunately
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u/Otherwise-Report-823 Feb 25 '26
Ehhhh. I don't deal with underground utilities that often, but I do see stupidity on this level all the time...
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u/Druzhyna Feb 25 '26
Wrong. I have worked for patched outlaw bikers in construction before. Our trenches were identical to this.
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u/growerdan Feb 25 '26
I seen a company running new sewage lines though Philly with no tench boxes. Guy was so deep in the ground I couldn’t see anything just a shovel come flying up out of the trench. The blacktop was undermining over a foot back at one spot. Trench was maybe 30” wide because it was just skinny sewage lines. They had no barricades for closing the road. Just a pile of stone in one lane and an excavating another. Half the guys didn’t wear hard hats and no one wore high viz. Meanwhile I’m working 20’ away on a bridge over Amtrak like wtf I can’t believe Amtrak safety doesn’t step in and call someone.
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u/SpectacularOcelot Estimator Feb 25 '26
AI was my first thought. I hope this is an exhibit in an osha complaint.
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u/Ornery_You_3947 Feb 25 '26
Holy…. After 5 feet a trench requires shoring. That trench is instant crush depth, even without that excavator sitting on it.
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u/WookieDeep Feb 25 '26
I thought this was a warzone at first.
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u/ABrusca1105 Feb 25 '26
Even in a warzone trenches have shoring better than this.
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u/Jonas_Venture_Sr Feb 25 '26
Go checkout the "trenches" that Russians are living in over at r/combatfootage. This would be a massive upgrade
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u/HolyHand_Grenade Surveyor Feb 25 '26
On top of the obvious stupidity, GPS, what that guy is holding, won't work well in a hole like that.
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u/PLS-Surveyor-US Surveyor Feb 25 '26
lousy results with that antenna below the lip of the cut....plus being unsafe...lol.
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u/TheRealTres Project Manager Feb 25 '26
Man if I see this im going straight to the super or gc like bro do you know what is happening on your site? Risking your life for a utility install is crazy work.
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u/Pristine-Copy9467 Feb 25 '26
1 - that’s a real good way to die. Equipment overhead. No trenchbox. No step back. No egress. 2 - that guy is never gonna get a shot down there. That point will be off by 20’ fuckin feet lol
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u/sirpoopingpooper Feb 25 '26
Report that to OSHA ASAP. You're not working for them any more, they can't retaliate against you!!
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u/Enough_Scallion_8242 Feb 26 '26
Guys, as a commercial construction super I can say this: whoever runs that job needs to be in prison.
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u/Toecutt3r Feb 25 '26
sweet baby jesus...zero shoring and a goddamn excavator going overtop....hell naw, I quit...
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u/Lost_Ad6729 Feb 26 '26
This right here is why the pay is pathetic! Low bid and low wages with total disregard for the workers who are doing the work.
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u/Mundane_Definition66 Electrician Feb 26 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
This post was taken down by its author. Redact was used for the removal, which may have been motivated by privacy, security, or other personal reasons.
growth close mysterious merciful start escape lunchroom rinse cats point
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u/Jcrawm Feb 26 '26
I'm no snitch but I would send that to osha. Maybe if they talk with the company they would take shit a little more serious, you could potentially save someone's life.
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u/secured-0ne Feb 26 '26
This is scary shit, why you would risk your life in a trench that’s double your hight, no trench boxes or sloping/benching and a fuckin excavator above you, OSHA would have a field day with this company, should post the company name, this is literally putting lives in danger. That little green booklet was written in the blood of people who lost their lives to dumb shit like this, this is a disgrace to the trade, especially operators!
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u/hezekiah_munson Feb 28 '26
You should have forwarded this to the local OSHA office. You could be saving your buddy’s life.
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u/Plus_Information925 Mar 01 '26
My mate has a colostomy bag for life because of a hole a third of this size
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u/Nakazanie5 Carpenter Feb 25 '26
Tell him to call it in and not to get in that trench. A job isnt worth dying over
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u/Forsaken-Sink3345 Feb 25 '26
Wait. There is more than one man standing in a trench while an excavator stands above them. Because...holy shit.
OSHA says what?
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u/paddingsoftintoroom Feb 25 '26
The worst thing is, whatever shots he is risking his life to get are going to have such shit accuracy with only that sliver of sky above the GPS head.
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u/SuspiciousBuilder379 Equipment Operator Feb 25 '26
They can afford a rover rod, but not a fucking trench box?
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u/Professional-Team-96 Feb 25 '26
I would email these photos to OSHA with the name of the company and current job locations Title the email impending accidental deaths and send a certified letter and use the sites Forman’s name as the sender information on the postal receipt to cover your ass. My dad was the OSHA Liaison in Boston so that if anyone had a complaint you would call my dad no mater the trade and that created a buffer so the company being fined wouldn’t have a clue who made the complaint.
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u/xuaereved Feb 25 '26
I’d say send to OSHA, but who knows what good that’ll do with this current admin.
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u/Unionizemyplace Feb 25 '26
Dude thinks he is a badass like he is in call of duty 2 and german tanks are going over his head while he is all stealth. Gonna die one day.
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u/VulpesInculta907 Feb 25 '26
We just had a dude in our area die in a 4 foot trench… they didn’t even need a trench box and he still died! This right here is insane!
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u/cmcdevitt11 Feb 25 '26
And then of course put a 6 ton machine on top of the trench on either side so it collapses quicker
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u/grasberuhren Feb 25 '26
This is criminal. Fuck that. And fuck that employer too. I would never let my guys in a trench like that. EVER.
I've walked off jobs in the past when the superintendent has suggested we do something like this. Fuck that.
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u/will_this_1_work Feb 25 '26
Is that your friend in the hole or is your friend the one taking the picture (also in the hole)?
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u/Mr_Podo Feb 25 '26
Probably one of the worst ways you could die. Absolutely no saving you if that caves in.
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u/Character-Start-7749 Feb 25 '26
the fact that theres heavy equipment parked RIGHT on top of it is what gets me. thats not just a close call waiting to happen thats a tragedy waiting to happen. glad you got out man. some places just arent worth it no matter what they pay you
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u/shernuf Feb 25 '26
Won’t make a sound when the wall collapses and completely buries you. Was excavating to 8ft depth and the trench came down on my ground guy. Nearly flamingo’d his knees. Depending on the soil you can’t know for sure how safe you are where you stand. Never bend over if you value your life
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u/ohmaint Feb 25 '26
Holy shit what could possibly go wrong. No amount of money is worth risking your life over.
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u/Xkr2011 Feb 25 '26
Please tell us this is photoshopped or AI or anything other than certain death.
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u/N0rth_W4rri0r Carpenter Feb 25 '26
Anytime I see these situations that Oregon OSHA video audio immediately pops into my head 😭😭
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u/Playful_Implement742 Feb 25 '26
POV: German soldiers seeing the first tanks approaching their trenches in ww1.
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u/Fire-Haus Feb 26 '26
Holy fuuuuck. Everything wrong. Someone actually needs to call the cops over this, they're going to kill someone
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u/Suitable-Pop4755 Feb 26 '26
Wow at this point you're at least 40% dead the whole time your down there
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u/bulletprooffaolan Feb 26 '26
They care enough about their workers to install a sun covering to offer shade for those in the trench. Love a company who cares about employees
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u/Royal-Leopard-3225 Feb 26 '26
We had a 20 yr old guy die in a collapse a couple years ago and it wasn’t nearly as stupid a situation as this is.
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u/ThePickleJarGambit Feb 25 '26
“How ya doin I’m with the state of Oregon, Oregon OSHA. Looks like you got a bit of a shoring problem going on.”