It is Vital to Focus on Digging During Trench Safety Stand Down this Week
Trenching accidents almost always involve an unthinkable event that can lead to injury or death: Being buried alive. But every trench failure is avoidable with proper planning, training and safety measures.
Beyond the obvious motivation to avoid serious injuries and deaths, OSHA last year announced a national enforcement emphasis program for trench safety after a spike in trenching deaths.
The National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) organizes an annual Trench Safety Stand Down in the middle of June. This week’s focus for National Safety Month is also trenching.
The stand down gives employers and supervisors the opportunity to speak directly to workers about trench and excavation hazards.
Trench collapses, or cave-ins, pose the greatest risk to workers' lives. To prevent cave-ins, jobsites should use OSHA’s “Slope It. Shore It. Shield It.” method:
- SLOPE or bench trench walls,
- SHORE trench walls with supports, or
- SHIELD trench walls with trench boxes
According to NUCA, most trenching accidents occur in trenches of 5 to 15 feet deep, and there is usually no warning before a cave-in.
The Trench Safety Stand Down is a good time for home builders to review their procedures for digging and excavating. NAHB has a video toolbox talk (embedded below) that builders can use to present to their workers and subcontractors, and additional resources in the NAHB Trenching and Excavation Toolkit.
Latest from NAHBNow
Advocacy
Oct 23, 2026
Trump Issues Executive Order to Lower Housing Costs
President Trump on Oct. 22 signed an executive order to lower single-family and mortgage costs, and the Treasury Department released new institutional investor rules.
Advocacy
Oct 23, 2026
NAHB Commends President Trump’s Executive Order on Housing
NAHB Chairman Bill Owens issued the following statement today regarding President Trump’s housing executive order.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Oct 22, 2026
Share of New Homes with Decks Inches Upward
The share of new homes with decks inched upward, from an all-time low of 17.4% in 2024 to 17.8% in 2025, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the HUD/Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC).
Economics
Oct 22, 2026
State-Level Employment Situation: September 2026
State-level employment data for September continued to show a mixed labor market, with job gains and losses split across the county. Although national nonfarm payroll employment increased modestly, year-over-year job growth varied considerably across states
Economics
Oct 21, 2026
Nearly One in Three Construction Workers are Hispanic
Diversifying the construction labor force remains a key priority amid persistent skilled labor shortages. According to NAHB analysis of the 2024 American Community Survey, non-Hispanic White workers account for the majority of the construction industry at 55.8%. Hispanic workers now represent nearly one-third of the labor force at 32.8%, followed by non-Hispanic Black workers at 5% and non-Hispanic Asian workers at 1.8 %.