 Jordan Barab was Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA during the Obama administration. There's no reason, really, that any worker in this country should be dying in a collapsed trench. Trenches, which are ditches that are deeper than they are wide, are often needed to install or repair pipes, cables, and utility lines. But Barab says they can be deadly. One cubic yard of soil weighs 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, and most trench collapses involve three to five people.