Abstract: On December 9, 2002, Employee #1 was laying an 8-in. line for a new sewer line across an existing roadbed inside a 17-ft-deep trench. An 8-ft trench shield was inverted and situated at the end of the trench, at the area where Employee #1 was working. Employee #2 was at the end of the trench on a ladder situated over the area and sloping back into the trench. An area between the inverted shield and the sloped area did not have a protection system. Employee #2, who was standing on the ladder, was positioning another section of the pipe to take it down to Employee #1, when a side wall of the trench collapsed. This knocked the ladder into the trench, causing Employee #2 to fall and be buried beneath the collapsing trench wall. Employee #1 who was partially inside the inverted trench shield was also buried. Employees #1 and #2 died of asphyxia. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) arrived within 15 minutes and retrieved both bodies from the trench using a backhoe.