County Road Division Worker Crushed Between Asphalt Truck and Shadow Truck During Rolling Cold Patch Operation

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  In winter 2017, male county road division worker in his 40s died while conducting rolling cold patch activities on a five lane roadway. The decedent was a member of a 5-person crew engaged in a rolling (continually moving) cold patch operation to repair potholes in a roadway. One crew member, the acting foreman, was driving the lead vehicle spotting the roadway for potholes and radioing back to the asphalt truck driver identifying roadway to be patched. Behind the asphalt truck with its attached trailer filled with asphalt were the decedent and another coworker, one of whom should have been acting as a spotter. Both were conducting cold patch activities, using shovels to obtain asphalt from the trailer and filling potholes at the time of the incident. The fifth member of the crew was the driver of the back-up vehicle, which had an arrow board to alert approaching drivers to the road patch work ahead and to protect the individuals on foot conducting cold patch activities. The sequence of events leading to the fatal incident are unknown
  
  the police report indicates that the driver of the backup vehicle was attempting to retrieve a water bottle when the incident occurred and, according to the road commission, the driver fell asleep. The backup truck drove forward and did not stop. The truck struck and pinned the decedent against the asphalt trailer and struck his coworker. Feeling the collision, the driver of the lead asphalt truck placed the truck in neutral, set the air brake and left the vehicle. EMS was called and both workers were transported to a local hospital. One worker died as a result of the collision and one worker was severely injured. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS - Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include: 1. No spotter was utilized for the workers on foot in violation of road commission policy. 2. Both workers on foot had their backs facing the shadow truck. 3. Shadow truck driver not attentive to work activities. RECOMMENDATIONS - MIFACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure all workers follow established standard operating procedures.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Behavior Construction Industry Hazardous Substances Hydrocarbons Mortality Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Sleep

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• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accident Potential Accident Prevention Administration Asphalt Concretes Automobile Safety Cognitive Function Construction Equipment Construction Workers Drivers Fatalities Hazard Recognition Injuries Injury Prevention Motor Vehicles OSHA Region 5 Policy Recommendations Road Surfacing Safety Monitoring Safety Practices Standards Traumatic Injuries Truck Drivers Work Operations

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Highway Work Zones ; Motor Vehicles
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE17MI012
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-19
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059503
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2021-100145
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 17MI012, 2019 Jun ; :1-19
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:24b1c1dcf343815603b6f610bf693f8149c63364e1a52d1c40d9c578a9276bb49c83648d234a183dcd6c8e8df1a0c1859a57ab0bb5440fafe08f9c441537d951
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164898/cdc_164898_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 866.92 KB ]