Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/748269
EquipmentWorld.com | November 2016 53 safety watch | by Tom Jackson | TJackson@randallreilly.com T he victim was just 21 years old. He had been on the job as a general laborer for three months. His primary job was to drive a van to transport work- ers who didn't have driver's licenses to the jobsite. However, occasionally, he worked as a flagger or laborer. The night of the accident, the company was en- gaged in an asphalt paving job on a state highway. The crew had just finished paving a section of the highway and the laborers were walking to the next starting point, but the victim kept to himself near the just-finished section. Supervisors told investigators that the victim hadn't been assigned any specific task, raising the possibility that he was just milling around. Subcontracted dump truck drivers had been in- structed to circle around the pavers to avoid backing long distances. This advice was ignored by the driver of the truck that hit the victim. The truck backed up almost 150 yards. The paving machines were equipped with floodlights, but other than those and the working lights on the trucks, no additional illu- mination was present at the site. The truck in ques- tion had a function backup alarm, and the victim was wearing a high visibility vest and hard hat light. Evidence suggests the victim had his back to the truck when he was hit. The truck was moving in reverse and the driver was watching his driver's side rearview mirrors. The driver felt a bump and saw something emerge from under the front of the truck. A DOT inspector saw the victim prone on the road- way and signaled the driver to stop. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The company had a written safety plan and con- ducted regular toolbox talks. But it did not have any site specific plan, nor did it provide a safety program for subcontractors. How incidents like this can be prevented: • Provide light towers or supplemental illumination for night time jobs. • Establish a buddy system and instruct laborers not to wander around on the jobsite by themselves. • Create a site-specific safety and traffic management plan for each different job and communicate this to all crew members, DOT officials, and subcontrac- tors. • Structure your jobs so that trucks spend a minimal amount of time backing up. • Use spotters in clear line of sight to the drivers and operators when backing trucks or equipment. • Install rear-view cameras or rear-view object detec- tion systems on trucks and equipment. • Establish safe areas for the machines and trucks to wait until all the hand work is done and the labor- ers are accounted for. For more information about this accident visit: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/In-house/full200603. html Date of safety talk: Leader: _____________________ Attending: Illustration by Don Lomax Sponsored by Night blindness