I'm getting ready to seal a crack outside my basement soon so the subject is in the front of my mind. I heard about this story in the news this weekend. Poor guy.

http://www.firerescue1.com/rescue/articles/285470/

Unfortunately sometimes it happens. My dad was a construction superintendent, and he lost one of his favorite laborers the same way. All the more reason to dig with extreme care, paying attention to the behavior and composition of the soil. Do not pile the excavated material on the edge of the excavation. Step back or slope back the wall of a deep excavation, and only do a little width at a time. A plywood sheet braced to the foundation wall can be used to try to hold back the soil. Be careful.

I will. I don't think I'll be doing it until I'm back from vacation now. I'm also considering hiring somebody. I'm sure I'll be fine because it says the trench this guy dug was around 8' deep. I only need to dig about 4 1/2 to 5' deep. It just caught my attention because they said he was doing basement waterproofing on the radio.

http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_124145127.html

More years ago than I'd like to admit, I was a captain on a volunteer heavy rescue squad. One of the emergencies we responded to involved a pipeline construction worker trapped in a collapsed trench. The trench was only about 5 feet deep, but he still suffered a number of broken bones including a fractured pelvis. My point is, don't get too complacent about shallow trenches. They are still dangerous.