Tony M Dec 10, 2013:

@ Kashew "For me, it's clearly equipment that's on offer - safety is implicit."

I agree!

Although they say 'tools', they clearly don't me small handtools and the like! I suspect we are talking about things like the special shoring systems used to maintain sidewalls from collapsing, etc. And I think 'trench' is a general term, used here to mean 'open-to-the-sky' excavations (rather than, say, undergound mining and tunnelling), and not necessarily specifically only 'long, narrow', but using those kind of excavation techniques (not e.g. open-cast mining)

kashew Dec 10, 2013:

Similar text: United Rentals, Greenwich, Conn., has expanded its trench safety rental network with the opening of three locations in Nashville, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., and Baltimore. The company now has 58 trench safety locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Paul McDonnell, senior vice president, operations, trench safety, power and HVAC, said, “We are continuing to invest in our position as the leading trench safety rental provider in North America by expanding our footprint and being first-to-market with new technologies for contractors working in underground excavations. Our specialty range of trench safety, temporary power and climate control services, together with our general construction equipment, comprises the largest rental fleet available to customers through a single source.”

The United Rentals branch network integrates the company’s general equipment rentals and trench safety, power and HVAC businesses into the industry’s largest customer service footprint. For more information online visit unitedrentals.com.
For me, it's clearly equipment that's on offer - safety is implicit.

Tony M Dec 10, 2013:

@ Didier Note that the issue of safety (walls collapse, people working in the bottom of the trench, etc.) is presumably a different one with the "one bucket-width" types of technique you mention.

Didier Fourcot Dec 10, 2013:

Parsing It all depends on the translaiton chosen for "offerings": "nos gammes pour sécurité des tranchées" does not imply the concept of equipment, what if for example they offer advice or certification services about trench safety?
"Excavation" is for general purpose, "tranchée" is a form of excavation specifically performed to access, install, remove or repair buried networks, most often synonym now of "one bucket-width" excavation

kashew Dec 10, 2013:

Excavation and trenching separate activities: As in:
Prior to working in the construction association business, Manley spent 9 years as an excavation and trenching contractor and has worked as a sales manager in both the automotive and the communications industries.
csc-ca.org
Avant de travailler dans des associations de construction, il a été entrepreneur en ***excavation et en creusement de tranchées*** pendant neuf ans et il a également travaillé comme gestionnaire des ventes [...]
csc-ca.org