Patent ID: 8684634

Claim:
A cage for protecting a worker in an excavation, the cage comprising: spaced apart side panels formed from a material suitably-strong to withstand a force exerted on the side panels by a collapsing wall of the excavation; a plurality of cross members extending between the side panels to substantially maintain a distance separating the side panels when subjected to the force exerted by the collapsing wall of the excavation; a harness attachment for receiving a harness connector that tethers a worker's harness to the cage, the harness attachment comprising a rod separated from a portion of the cage to which the rod is coupled to define a range of travel that the harness connector can travel along the rod; and a connection head that is cooperable with a coupler supported by a boom of a piece of mechanized equipment to couple the cage to the boom, the connection head being coupled to one or both of the side panels, one or more of the cross members, or one or both of the side panels and at least one of the cross members.