Abstract: Employee #1 and coworkers were building a retaining wall for a retention pond at a shopping center under construction. The job called for an excavation along the wall's length. When the employees reached the south end of the wall, they were unable to properly slope the final stretch of the excavation because it was at the property line. They also did not think they could properly shore the approximately 8 ft 4 in. tall, nearly vertical wall of dirt.. Employee #1 and three coworkers were tying rebar for the wall footer the dirt wall collapsed, burying Employee #1 to his waist. He was taken to the hospital, where he died 26 days later. The primary cause of the accident was the lack of sloping or shoring at the south end of the excavation..