TOOLBOXTOPICS.COM

Company Name __________________________ Job Name __________________________ Date_________________

Safety Recommendations:________________________________________________________________________________

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M.S.D.S Reviewed:_____________________________________________________________________________________

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A recent survey was made of fatal accidents occurring on road construction work. Before the study it was assumed that the most serious problem was high speed hauling with trucks and scrapers. The survey revealed that the real problem involved backing equipment. These backing accidents occurred at low speed. The equipment involved included trucks, dozers, graders and front end loaders. The man injured in each case was not the equipment operator, but a man standing on the grade.
Here are three typical accidents:

1. A laborer was spotting dump trucks in a fill area. The spotter was walking backwards when a truck backed over him.
2. A laborer was cleaning up overage from an adjacent lane when he was struck by a hot-mix batch truck backing into the lay down machine on an asphalt paving job.
3. A grade foreman was setting grade stakes. He was leaning over to check a stake when a dozer backed over him.

The moral is-if you are on foot, keep your eye on moving equipment. Furthermore, don't go into an area where equipment is backing unless you have a specific job to do there. If you are driving, know where your spotter is and make him give you your signals-know where people are working near your moving equipment-take the time to look. A backup alarm is no guarantee against injury.