UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

On January 6, 2016 at 8:15 a.m., an employee sustaining unknown injuries from a trench collapse. The employee was down in an excavation approximately twelve to sixteen feet with near vertical side walls and no cave-in protection. The employ ee had entered down into the excavation with a co-worker looking for the sanitar y sewer pipe to repair and/or replace due to a leak. A third employee was opera ting an excavator at grade level with the bucket down in the excavation. The pre viously disturbed soil consisted mostly of loose black material with clay type m ixture. The side walls of the excavation had been dug with near vertical design and no slope or benching in use. A trench box was available on site approximatel y twenty five yards behind the excavator but was not in use. The type "C" soil f ailed to retain its cohesive strength allowing a collapse to occur partially bur ying the employee. The third employee, the excavator operator, at ground level had the digging arm and bucket down in the excavation at the same time and had s wung the bucket over to assist the employee in dislodging from the collapse. Th e operator struck the employee in-the-head with the bucket which combined with t he trench collapse resulted in the employee being killed. The employee sustained crushing fracture and asphyxiation hazards as a result of the bucket of the exc avator striking him and the caved-in soil.