Abstract: AT APPROXIMATELY 9 AM ON AUGUST 7, 1986, EMPLOYEE #1, A PLUMBER, WAS POSITIONED AT THE BOTTOM OF A 7 FOOT DEEP, 2 1/2 FOOT WIDE TRENCH LOCATED AT THE SITE OF NEW POLICE STATION UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEAR ODENTON, MARYLAND. THE EXCAVATION HAD BEEN MADE IN SOFT, SANDY, UNSTABLE SOIL. THE TRENCH HAD NOT BEEN SHORED, SHEETED, BRACED, OR OTHERWISE SUPPORTED. THE TRENCH WAS LOCATED ABOUT 48 FEET FROM A ROAD WHICH HAD CONSTANT VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ON IT, AND RAN PARALLEL TO ANOTHER TRENCH WHICH HAD BEEN BACK FILLED THE PREVIOUS DAY. THE DISTANT BETWEEN THE WALLS OF THE 2 TRENCHES WAS ABOUT 4 FEET. THE EMPLOYEES WERE INSTALLING 75 FEET OF 4 INCH PVC DRAIN PIPE. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS LEVELING THE BOTTOM OF THE TRENCH, PREPARING TO INSTALL A SECTION OF PIPE, WHEN THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH CLOSEST TO THE PREVIOUSLY BACK FILLED TRENCH CAVED IN AND COMPLETELY BURIED HIM. HE WAS KILLED. THE EMPLOYEE WAS AN EXPERIENCED PLUMBER.