Two months after three separate trench collapses in two days in Michigan, a 50-year-old worker was rescued September 2 from another cave-in in the state.
The worker was buried from the waist down after the trench collapsed at about 3:45 p.m. in Oakland County, where two of the other three collapses occurred. A worker died in the other collapse in nearby Livingston County in southeast Michigan.
It took more than four hours for a team of rescuers to extricate the man buried to his waist September 2 and airlift him to a trauma center. According to the Oxford Township’s Facebook page, the man was working on a residential sewer extension project and walking beside the trench. The edge of the trench collapsed under him, and he slid down, landing beside a trench box about 12 to 15 feet down.
He remained alert and responsive throughout the rescue, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. He insisted on climbing up the ladder out of the trench after he was freed.
Oxford Township / C.J. Carnacchio
The worker was released from the hospital after precautionary evaluation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Powered by“It’s so nice to have a story with a happy ending,” said Oxford Township Supervisor Jack Curtis. “These situations can go so wrong so quickly.”
Third Collapse in Oakland County
Two other trench collapses occurred this summer in Oakland County within two days of each other:
- A 35-year-old man was rescued June 30 from a collapse at a construction site in Oxford Township. Workers were installing field tile for a septic system when the man entered the trench to glue pipe together. A trench wall collapsed, burying him beneath the soil.
- A 25-year-old man was rescued July 1 from a trench collapse at a new subdivision under construction in Orion Township. A subcontractor was excavating for a sewer installation while a worker was inside a trench box. The ground surrounding the trench box gave way and trapped him below the waist.
Fatal Collapse
One worker wasn’t so lucky July 1 in nearby Livingston County.
Workers were installing underground tanks when the 30-year-old man became trapped and buried in a trench collapse in Handy Township. He was pulled from the trench but was pronounced dead at the scene, according to news reports.
Deadly Year in the Trenches
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating all four incidents.
Federal and state OSHA inspectors are also looking into other trench collapses around the country, a total of 38 since January 1, according to a post September 3 on the Trenching & Excavation Safety Task Force LinkedIn page.
Of those cave-ins, 15 workers died, and 26 were saved, according to the post by Greg First, safety director at Conie Construction Company in Wooster, Ohio, and task force volunteer.
In his post, First lists the following statistics he has gathered on this year’s cave-ins:
- Average trench depth: 7 feet 10 inches.
- Average age of those involved: 37
- Youngest worker who died: 20 years old in Pennsylvania
- Oldest worker who died: 68 years old in Alaska
“With four months left in 2026, the trades are thriving like never before,” First writes. “However, this progress should never come at the cost of human life. Are projects being fast-tracked too aggressively? Are expedited schedules leading to safety oversights? Or has safety simply become a lower priority? These are critical questions we must address to protect the workers who build our future.”
