Abstract: Employee #1 and a coworker were laying a 6 in. lateral sewer line and setting the vent pipe in an excavation located at the east side of a townhouse foundation. Employee #1 was at the east end of the excavation facing the north wall and the coworker was next to the north wall near the west end of the excavation when a portion of the south and east walls collapsed. The coworker managed to get out of the excavation, but Employee #1 was buried to his waist. He was dug out by three coworkers. His only injury was a sprained ankle. The excavation was approximately 13 ft long; it was 10 ft 7 in. wide at the west end; 5 ft 8 in. wide at the east end; and 8 ft deep at the west end increasing to 10 ft deep at the east end. It had a 20 in. wide bench on the north side, 1 1/2 ft below the top, and a 24 ft wide bench that narrowed to 20 to 24 in. on the south side, 2 ft below the top. The employer had no specific safety rules for excavations or trenches, and none of the employees was familiar with the applicable safety standards.