Dive Brief:
- The National Utility Contractors Association has designated June as Trench Safety Month and will hold its annual Trench Safety Stand Down June 15-19 at hundreds of jobsites nationwide.
- The stand down, supported by OSHA and the Trenching and Excavation Safety Taskforce, will include safety training sessions, educational seminars, toolbox talks and live trench rescue demonstrations designed to reinforce safe excavation practices, per a release shared with Construction Dive.
- NUCA officials say trench incidents remain preventable through proper training, protective systems and adherence to excavation safety standards.
Dive Insight:
Eighteen trench collapse fatalities took place in 2024, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In June 2025, OSHA said 11 trench-related deaths had occurred at that point year to date. Those deaths were not confined to construction.
June’s safety campaign builds on a decade of trench safety stand downs organized by NUCA and its members to address one of construction’s most persistent hazards. More than 24,200 workers and first responders participated in the events at 461 jobsites in 2025, according to NUCA’s release.
“When NUCA started Trench Safety Month, it was seen as a terrific way to introduce the Trench Safety Stand Down week to the entire underground excavation industry, and not just NUCA members,” Skout Raney, chairman of NUCA’s Safety Committee, told Construction Dive. “Dedicating an entire month to trench safety expands the concepts of TSSD and we trust also expands the reach of our safety message to more who need to hear it.”
Throughout June, NUCA plans to use social media, internal publications and industry media outreach to promote trench safety awareness. The association is also partnering with the Trenching and Excavation Safety Taskforce, a coalition of firms that gathered to raise awareness on trench safety, to share information about training opportunities and excavation safety best practices.
Raney — who is also director of health and safety at Florida-based underground water and wastewater installation firm AllClear Underground Solutions — noted interactive training has proven particularly effective.
“Scenario-based hazard recognition exercises are impactful because they present realistic situations such as unstable soil, improper shoring or nearby traffic and require workers to identify risks and choose the correct protective measures,” he said.
Raney said the industry’s challenge is not a lack of knowledge but maintaining consistent execution of proven safety practices.
“Too often, schedule pressure, inadequate supervision or complacency leads crews to take dangerous shortcuts,” he said. “Contractors must understand that awareness and training alone are not enough.”
The focus on excavation safety comes as utility contractors continue work on water, wastewater, broadband, electric and transportation projects funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Those projects are expected to require thousands of new workers, many of whom will need excavation safety training before entering the field.
According to Raney, contractors should incorporate trench-specific safety instruction into onboarding programs, provide hands-on field training and empower competent persons to stop work when conditions become unsafe.
“No job is so urgent that it cannot be done safely,” he said. “Every trench must be properly protected, inspected and treated as a potentially life-threatening hazard.”
