Safety and Trenches - Help or Sacrifice Burying?

If you are a homeowner and wish to dig a hole around your home's foundation, regardless of size - please...please...please...don't. Recently in the Cleveland area a man was crushed by a cave-in - and he was supposedly a "trained" professional.

Trenches and ditches should only be dug by professionals when they are to exceed 3' in depth. Why? Very few people have died from a broken leg. Trenches that cave in have a tremendous force - enough to snap bones and crush the human body. There is no such thing a safe hole - earth can move at any time.

A seasoned professional, when excavating to the footer (7' - 8' in depth), will shelve the banks so that if one level caves in there will not be a large amount of earth falling. If the size of the lot dictates a tighter hole without shelving, a seasoned pro will drive I-beams into the earth and place 1" plywood behind it - so that in the event of a cave in, the earth is caught by the plywood and I-beams.

The only time that you should get into a trench such as this is if it is securely braced - or you are luring your mother-in-law...just kidding...kind of...