Alert of the Month
The following is a summary of a recent incident:
After the camp orientation, a planter went and laid down on a large section of grass that was being used for a parking area. The planter laid down behind a row of crew trucks that were parked perpendicular and adjacent to the road. Beyond this was a large grassy field. All the crew trucks were parked facing outward, other than the last crew truck, which parked facing inward and perpendicular to the road. It had just arrived and was not able to back in due to the lane being blocking by another vehicle.
The driver of the crew truck left his vehicle to use the washroom. The driver returned to his vehicle a few minutes later along the road where the visibility to the location of the planter was blocked by the other crew trucks. The rear door of his truck was open and was obscuring his line of site along his vehicle.
The driver walked around the back of the truck to the driver side door and then got in. The driver pulled forward and turned right, driving around and behind the end vehicle. His front tire missed the planter; however, as he made his turn the rear wheels went directly over the planter’s torso. The planter received extensive crush injuries.
Brief your crew on the risks of interactions between workers and all mobile equipment, including pickups and passenger vehicles.
- Set up camps and marshalling areas to allow for safe pedestrian and truck interactions. If possible, have enough room so trucks don’t have to back up. Keep parking areas separate from common areas and instruct workers to keep out of parking areas unless they are required to be in these areas as part of their work activities.
- Make sure driving safe work procedures include information on safe operation in areas where there are workers on foot. Train all drivers and staff on these procedures.
- The safe work procedures should include horn signals when moving vehicles. For example: one horn blast for stop, two for back up and three for go ahead.
- Another useful practice is always to have a spotter when backing up a vehicle. Properly train those spotters and drivers so they have common guiding signals and have the driver immediately stop if they lose sight of a spotter.
- High visibility clothing needs to be worn when around mobile equipment, which includes pickups and other automobiles. Workers should make every effort to be seen, which includes wearing high visibility clothing, putting up warning signs along roads and being aware of areas where they may be hidden from drivers or equipment operators.
- When approaching heavy equipment, make positive contact with the operator via radio and confirm it’s OK to enter into the hazard zone of the machine.
- Avoid distraction by not using mobile phones or headphones when around moving vehicles.
- Monitor your workers’ fatigue levels as increased fatigue may lead to errors in judgement.
Resources:
- WorkSafeBC high visibility clothing requirements:
https://www.worksafebc.com/en/healthsafety/ tools-machinery-equipment/personal-protective-equipment-ppe/types/high-visibility-clothing
- Link to original safety alert that was quoted above:
https://wfca.ca/2017/06/industry-safety-alertworker- run-over-by-large-pick-up-truck-062317/
