I agree of course,this trench was in the street and the sawcut was not wide enough for the depth of the trench.See,I can weasle my way out of it.LOL.Of course,OSHA don't care and we had aluminum trench boxes in the yard that could be hauled in a pickup and assembled on site but you know how it goes,"just this one time" and there you have it.I am sorry about the brother dying and do not know how that I would deal with it myself.You always have those things on your mind and you are always concious of your responsibility as an operator with men in the trench and checking that you have no shirt sleeves that can interfere with the controls and I like to hold my hands in plain view of the laborers while they are near the bucket and try to place the bucket where it would do the most good if there was a cave in but you know all of that,it must be the coffee.Ron G