Neglecting safety precautions may lead to trenching fatalities.

Background: Trench collapses ranked as the seventh leading cause of the possible twenty-nine causes of OSHA-inspected fatal construction events during the period 1991-2001. This study aims to examine why these fatalities occurred.

Methods: Forty-four case files from OSHA inspections of fatal trench collapses were reviewed.

Results: Improper protection of the excavation site where work was taking place was the leading fatality cause. Several organizational or physical conditions were present at many fatal sites; the most frequent was that no training had been provided for trenching.

Conclusions: Presence of a competent, diligent person at the site would have prohibited most fatalities. The top cited violation was lack of protection, that is, benching, shoring, sloping, trench boxes, etc. (29 CFR 1926.652 (a) (1)).