Abstract: At approximately 3:30 p.m. on December 13, 1994, Employee #1 and a coworker, of B & G Excavating, Inc., were working on a sewer hook-up project at a residence. Employee #1, the backhoe operator, had excavated the ditch 14 ft deep. The coworker was in the trench inside a shoring system. After Employee #1 finished, he took a piece of pipe into the unshored section of the trench to give it to his coworker. As he entered the bottom of the trench, the wall caved in, burying him. The coworker frantically dug by hand to reach Employee #1; however, after several minutes, he gave up and ran to the residence next door to call emergency services. After five hours of digging, Employee #1's body was recovered. He had died of asphyxia.