A 17-year-old male laborer died, and a co-worker was injured after a wall in the trench they were working in collapsed. The victim was part of a crew installing sewer pipes at an industrial park development (Figure 1).  

Sewer Installation Project (Trench pictured is approximately 200 feet long.)

The crew consisted of five men including the victim and a self-employed excavator operator. The day before the incident, the excavator operator removed the trench shield (Figure 2), so he could pull out old pipes. Once this was done the crew quit work for the […]