ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY & HEALTH
SAFETY & HEALTH BULLETIN
Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety & Health · U.S. Department of Energy · Washington, D.C. 20585
DOE/EH-0521 October 1997
Issue No. 97-5
Safety Measures for Construction Heavy Equipment Operations
Introduction
On June 20, 1997, a construction laborer was killed when he was struck by a wheel loader performing grading operations on a pipeline project at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Although the wheel loader was equipped with a functioning back-up alarm, the laborer either did not hear it or did not react to the signal in time to move from the path of the reversing vehicle. The laborer and the wheel loader's operator, the only people on the project site at the time of the accident, had many years of construction experience and had both recently completed training in which the hazards of working around heavy equipment were emphasized.
Although the hazards of heavy equipment operations are widely recognized across the construction industry, accidents of this type are all too common. In its "Analysis of Construction Fatalities - The OSHA Database 1985-1989," the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported that approximately ten percent of the 3,496 fatal construction accidents investigated during that time period occurred as a result of workers being struck by construction heavy equipment. In discussions with the principle author of this report, it was noted that the most common job classification of worker killed in such accidents was "signalman" the very person assigned responsibility to ensure safe movement of the equipment. These facts seem to clearly underscore that inattentiveness or the casual dismissal of the hazards involved in heavy equipment operations can have swift and deadly consequences.
Applicable OSHA Standards
The OSHA standard pertinent to construction motor vehicles and heavy equipment operations, 29 CFR 1926, Subpart O, requires under provisions 29 CFR 1926.601(b)(4)(i) and 1926.602(a)(9)(ii) that all vehicles and heavy equipment having an obstructed view to the rear either be equipped with a reverse signal alarm (i.e., back-up alarm) or use a signalperson for reverse operations. When a signalperson is used, OSHA requires the use of high
visibility clothing only in instances where there is exposure to public vehicular traffic (29 CFR 1926.651(d)). However, as demonstrated by the recent Brookhaven accident and OSHA's fatality data, sole reliance on these prescribed control measures, though certainly helpful, does not guarantee safe heavy equipment operations. In fact, it is widely believed that workers can become accustomed to the sound of back-up alarms on construction sites, thereby reducing their effectiveness in controlling such accidents.
New Alarm Technologies
Concerns about the continued hazards of heavy equipment operations have led industry to develop supplementary control measures to warn equipment operators and ground personnel of people or objects in the operator's obstructed view zone. Such measures include rear viewing video cameras and proximity alarms (also known as discriminating back-up alarms). Though these technologies have been used to a limited degree in the mining and service industries (on powered haulage equipment and service trucks or buses, respectively), they are rarely used in the construction industry. Discussions with manufacturers of construction heavy equipment have indicated a reluctance to use such technology until it has been proven to be both safer and more reliable than existing control methodologies.
Discriminating back-up alarms are allowed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) on self-propelled mobile equipment engaged in surface mining operations in lieu of conventional back-up alarms or spotter personnel, whereas OSHA standards do not make specific mention of this technology. In fact, in a July 12, 1993 letter of interpretation to the above noted motor vehicle standard, OSHA expressed only qualified acceptance of this technology while expressing concern about its ability to warn "persons walking towards the path of the vehicle in time to avoid contact " with it.
