Abstract: Just before noon on November 03, 2011, two employees were working in an unprotected trench, which was approximately 220 feet long, 6 feet deep, 2 feet wide, and had nearly-vertical sidewalls. No cave-in protection or acceptable means of egress was in place prior to the employees entering the trench to locate an existing one inch waterline. The existing waterline extended into the trench sidewall on the northwest end of the trench where employees were working. The employees had just finished locating the existing waterline with a handheld shovel, while the co-owners supervised their work activities from outside the trench. The sidewall caved-in and buried the employee at the northwest end of the trench. The employer called 911 for assistance and manually dug with shovels to uncover the buried employee until emergency medical services (EMS) arrived on scene. After removing the employee from the trench, emergency medical technicians performed an evaluation and CPR. The employee was pronounced dead at approximately 12:26 pm. The fatality was directly related to head and chest injuries suffered during the trench collapse.