Abstract: On the morning of November 22, 1994, Employee #1, who was an equipment operator/laborer, a foreman/operator, and two traffic control flaggers arrived at a job site to install a water/sewer line that was approximately 10 feet deep. The traffic flaggers went to their locations along the road to start flagging traffic, and the foreman had to leave the site to get some needed parts. Employee #1 asked the foreman if he could start digging while he was gone. The foreman said, "Okay, but don't uncover the pipe and stay out of the hole." Employee #1 used a Hitachi track hoe, #UH07LC, to excavate the material. At approximately 7:50 a.m., another coworker saw Employee #1 jump from the track hoe into the excavation. By the time the coworker reached the excavation, Employee #1 had already been buried by a cave-in. He died of asphyxiation. A protective system was not in the trench.