Abstract: Several employees were lowering a steel plate or sheet into an open trench that was 14 feet deep. Each sheet weighed approximately 5,000 lb. A 28-foot trench shield was in the trench; the sheets were to be placed along the sides of the shield to keep ground water from entering the trench. This process had been repeated continuously as the pipe was laid. Each sheet was approximately 18 feet long by 8 feet wide, varying slightly. A 3 1/4 inch by 6 inch hole was cut midway on the short side of each sheet. A trackhoe was used to lift each sheet. On the trackhoe's bucket was an "eye," which had 3 shackles connected and a 14-inch hook with a missing safety latch. The sheet was hooked by an operator at the controls in the operator station and lifted to the edge of the trench and lowered against the shield. Another trackhoe operator was at the front end of the shield and had just set one sheet at that end. Employee #1 walked down into the trench to the back of the trench shield to help get the sheet in place as it was lowered. Additional sheets were to be placed to overlap each other down the side of the shield. This was the first sheet being placed on the side of the box for this section of pipeline. When the sheet came to rest on the sandy soil, Employee #1 started to walk back out of the trench. A ladder was within 4 feet of him, but he walked into and started out of the trench over the sloped area that was backfilled at the back of the trench. The trackhoe operator then moved the bucket to push the sheet into the soil. The hook slipped from the sheet and the operator lost control. Employee #1 had not yet made it from the trench. The other trackhoe operator sounded his horn. The foreman, who was just outside of the trench about 7 feet away, yelled. Employee #1 stopped and turned around, and the sheet fell onto him. He died from his injuries.