OSHA Trade Release

U.S. Department of Labor

OSHA Office of Communications www.osha.gov

Washington, D.C.

For Immediate Release

January 12, 2023

Contact: Office of Communications

US Dept. of Labor announces annual adjustments to OSHA civil penalties for 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced changes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2023.

In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act to advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. Under the Act, agencies are required to publish "catch-up" rules that adjust the level of civil monetary penalties and make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. This year, January 15 falls on a Sunday and January 16 is a federal holiday. Therefore, new OSHA penalty amounts will become effective Jan. 17, 2023.

Therefore the 2023 OSHA penalty amounts, as adjusted for annual inflation, are hereby increased by 7.74%. OSHA's maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $14,502 per violation to $15,625 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $145,027 per violation to $156,259 per violation.

Visit the OSHA Penalties page and read the final rule for more information. n

Henniker Directional Drilling, LLC Chooses Quality and Efficiency Over Volume

New Hampshire based UCANE contractor has been installing piping through New England’s toughest terrain for 22 years.

Jeff and Danielle Martin both grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts, where they first met in high school. After high school Danielle attended nursing school where she obtained a degree and began her nursing career. Jeff grew up around wrenches and welding equipment being used by his father Donald “Marty” Martin. Marty was a heavy equipment mechanic who was well-known to many contractors in the area. He worked with the Fantoni Company, a former UCANE member, and one of the largest Utility Contractors in the Boston area at the time. After high school, Jeff Martin took his natural and inherited mechanical skills and started a career as a mechanic at Ingersoll-Rand Corporation, a large manufacturer of drilling equipment, compressors, and other industrial tools.

Jeff and Danielle continued their relationship after high school, while both were progressing well in their respective careers, and in 1994 they decided to “tie-the-knot.” Danielle had her nursing license and was working at Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick and Jeff was making a name for himself as the “go-to” mechanic at Ingersoll’s Boston location, as the “Big-Dig” was starting to ramp-up. By 1995, Jeff was promoted to the position of Service Manager at Ingersoll-Rand, and Danielle and Jeff were settled in a home in Hopkinton, MA, and life was good.

Horizontal Directional Drilling Comes to New England

Starting in 1990 the “Big Dig” was bringing in contractors to Boston from across the country, and also bringing in new technology, including Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD). Before the late 1980s, HDD applications and technology were mostly reserved for the oil and gas industry in the Midwest, where long bore lengths were required for pipe installations under rivers, many with distances over 1,000 feet. The work was high risk and performed by a few large companies utilizing mostly custom-made or one-of-a-kind specialty equipment. Coinciding with Jeff Martin’s mechanic career in the early 90s was both the fiber-optic revolution (requiring millions of miles of cable installations in urban areas) and the introduction of companies like Ditch Witch and Vermeer that began making smaller and more versatile HDD equipment on a production basis.

By the late 90s, Jeff Martin had become familiar with HDD drilling rigs from having repaired them, and he was very interested in the potential for Horizontal Directional Drilling Technology. At the same time Jeff struck up a friendship with Rick Patenaude, who was an Ingersoll customer working for his father Wayne who owned Contocook Artesian Well Company in Henniker, New Hampshire. Jeff and Rick often discussed the similarities in the equipment and in the techniques required for the vertical and horizontal drilling industries. Rick agreed with Jeff on the growth potential for Horizontal Drilling Technology and in 2001 Jeff and Rick formed Henniker Directional Drilling, LLC.

HDD, LLC – The Early Days

The plan was for Jeff to leave a good job as Service Manager at a well-respected company and set up a new business on land adjacent to Rick’s Artesian Well Company. While the fledgling HDD business was getting off the ground, Jeff could supplement his income by working at Contocook Co. operating and repairing their drill rigs and support equipment. According to Jeff, “I was, of course, a little nervous not only to leave a good job and go out on my own, but also to relocate from our suburban surroundings in Hopkinton to ‘the woods’ of New Hampshire.” Fortunately, both Jeff and Danielle were more at home in a rural setting and they loved the great outdoors. “When I showed Danielle that the new building was going to be located next door to Pat’s Peak Ski Resort (also owned by the Patenaude family) the deal was sealed,” recalls Jeff with a smile. “She supported me all the way in this new venture and I couldn’t have done it without her.” continued on page 42

“The first couple of years were a little nerve-wracking,” says Danielle. “We were purchasing equipment, taking out loans, and trying to get our building fitted out.

Henniker Directional Drilling

Jeff and Rick were running around looking for work and for employees and I was trying to learn Quick Books. “But work soon began to come in for the new business and Jeff was working fewer and fewer hours at the Contocook Arte sian Well Co. The early jobs were very local and small. The company might assist an excavation contractor who was putting in a sewer service, and didn’t want to cut through the asphalt driveway or they might directionally drill a 100foot residential water service on private property. Eventu ally the company got some bonding capacity, more insur ance, and received certification from New Hampshire DOT to perform directional drilling under public roadways. By 2004, with that certification and a record of successful drill ing jobs, the company was off and running.

Jeff Martin and Rick Patenaude added Charlie Hunt as their first hire and gradually rounded out a few more employees from the Henniker area and HDD, LLC was beginning to get noticed by general contractors in the New England Region. According to Jeff, “Hiring Charlie was a great benefit to getting the company going. He learned the horizontal drilling business very quickly and he was soon able to operate every piece of equipment we owned. From early on, Charlie was our key man and he still is today.” Jeff is quick to note that Charlie isn’t the only long-term employee at the company. “This Henniker area produces some hard-working and dedicated employees,” says Jeff. “I am fortunate to have a dedicated and skilled crew with guys like Matt Page, Hunter Reynolds, and Billy Martin (no relation). They make me proud every day.”

Jeff recalled one of the first “large and risky” drilling jobs that HDD, LLC tackled was a 1300 foot continuous drill under the Connecticut River* in Cornish, New Hampshire. “That job caused a lot of sleepless nights,” says Jeff. “We took on the job for Verizon and the goal was to get a 6-inch HDPE sleeve under the river to be used for fiber optic cables. We ran into some sizable cobbles halfway across that nearly stopped us. It took every effort we could muster and it beat up our equipment, but we made it happen.”

*NOTE: Yes-the Connecticut River does run through New Hampshire. Starting at the Canadien border, the river provides much of the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. The Connecticut River continues down through Massachusetts and Connecticut before emptying into Long Island Sound. At a length of 410 miles this valuable water resource is New England’s longest river, and also has the most Directional Drill Crossings.

HDD, LLC - Capabilities

Today Henniker Directional Drilling (HDD, LLC) tackles work throughout New England. They will still do a residential water service, but they are more focused these days on public infrastructure. You can see their crews drilling under city roads, state highways, railroad tracks, and even buildings. Increased public concerns for the environment have expanded the use of the directional drilling method to install new utility lines under rivers, ponds, streams, wetlands, and other sensitive land areas in every New England state.

HDD, LLC has drilling capabilities up to 30-inch diameter and has successfully completed continuous horizontal drilling projects up to 2,500 feet. Most projects are designed to avoid encountering rock and large boulders in the drilling process due to cost and risk concerns. The company maintains multiple sizes of rock drilling bits to muscle through New England’s tough soils when needed. Most projects specify High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) for the final pipe product and HDD, LLC also provides labor and equipment for the required and critical heat fusion operations. “We buy most of our HDPE pipe from Bill Haines at Vari-Tech, LLC,” says Danielle. “Bill is a longtime member of UCANE and has been helping us to understand HDPE pipe and fittings since our earliest days in business.”

The company maintains four Vermeer Directional Drill Rigs ranging up to 100,000 lb. pulling capacity. According to Jeff Martin, “We really like the durability of these Vermeer rigs. For our other support equipment like slurry tanks, mud mixers, and mud pumps we favor the Ditch Witch line.”

A few recent jobs completed by HDD, LLC include:

1. Norwell, MA – 12-Inch Water Main Install – Approximate Value $ 400,000: Working as a subcontractor to an excavation GC, work included a 2,400 foot continu- continued on page 45

Henniker Directional Drilling continued from page 43 ous installation of 12-inch HDPE under wetlands; high groundwater table and boulders.

2. Nantucket Airport, MA – 12-Inch Water Main Install – Approximate Value $ 200,000: Owned by the Town of Nantucket, work included multiple bores under active airport runways for a new lighting system and communication cables.

3. Wells Harbor, ME – Twin 8-Inch Sewer Replacement – Approximate Value $350,000: Working as a subcontractor to a local GC, work included 2-800’ bores below tidal harbor to replace a leaking 50 year old cast iron force main running parallel to active pipe. Over the last several years HDD, LLC has had a major presence in several towns on Cape Cod as these communities have been actively upgrading their water and sewer systems. The company has worked as a subcontractor for multiple UCANE general contractors including GVC Construction, Inc., Robert B. Our Co., Inc., RJV Construction Corp., Dig-It Construction, and C. C. Construction, Inc. – to name a few. According to Jeff, “We’ve probably done more than 300 highway bores and multiple wetland bores on the Cape in the last few years. I think we have worked with half of the UCANE contractor members over the years. The GC/Sub relationships are first class and UCANE contractors are some of our best clients.”

Danielle Martin has switched from nursing to being the General Manager for Henniker Directional Drilling. She oversees a small office staff and is responsible for all the office functions including accounts payable, billings, insurance, vehicle registrations, MassDOT compliance, submittals, contract agreements, etc. for this family business. If Jeff Martin isn’t running a drill rig, you will find him either bidding new work or out in the garage repairing equipment or fabricating a specialty piece for a job.

In recent summers you might also find the two Martin daughters, Madison and Ava, following their father wherever he goes. Madison is a junior at Florida Gulf Coast University where she is studying Construction Management. Although Ava is only a junior in high school, she seems to have her father’s mechanical aptitude. “Ava can’t wait to get into the truck or into the garage with Jeff, and he has actually taught her how to weld,” says Danielle proudly. “I know our girls would be great assets for our company’s future, but whatever careers they want to focus on, we will support them all the way!”