Somewhere in Queens right now — a sewer tie-in in Jamaica, a water service line in Flushing, a foundation excavation for new housing in Maspeth — a worker is standing at the bottom of a trench with nothing holding the walls back. A trench collapse takes seconds. The walls let go, and tons of soil bury a man where he stands, often close enough for his coworkers to hear him. If your family just got that phone call, you need to understand two things quickly: a trench collapse is