Municipal Truck Driver Dies After Being Backed Over by Dump Truck

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  On May 22, 2008, a 55-year-old Hispanic municipal truck driver was critically injured when a three-ton dump truck, which was backing up, hit him in a street work zone. The decedent had returned from dumping his spoils as a second dump truck driver with a full load was leaving the site. The site supervisor radioed the drivers to switch dump trucks. The decedent gathered his personal belongings (lunch container, newspaper, etc.) and exited his truck. As the decedent walked behind his truck to switch trucks, he dropped his newspaper. The second driver entered the decedent's dump truck and looked for him using the dump truck mirrors. He saw the decedent in the passenger side rear view mirror. The decedent, noting he dropped his newspaper, walked back behind the truck and bent down to retrieve it. Simultaneously, the second driver began to back the decedent's truck to the excavation site. The excavation crew noticing the decedent was in the path of the backing dump truck ran toward the vehicle and yelled warnings to him and the driver. The decedent stood up and was struck by the backing truck. Emergency response was summoned and the decedent was transported to a local hospital. He died approximately two weeks later in the hospital from complications of the injuries sustained at the time of the incident. Recommendations: 1.) Employers should ensure that written backing protocols are in place and that designated individuals are assigned as spotters to direct backing construction vehicles on construction sites. 2.) Employers should ensure that workers who are on foot stay out of the work area where heavy equipment is operating and in clear view of operators. 3.) Employers should utilize the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Safety and Health topic Highway Work Zone Safety topic page to provide employee training concerning blind spots for construction equipment. 4.) Safety department/personnel should be provided high visibility and the power to implement changes and evaluate compliance with safety plans and programs. 5.) Heavy equipment owners should consider equipping vehicles with devices to detect the presence of individuals or objects behind the vehicle.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Drivers Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards OSHA Region 5 Safety-education Safety-engineering Safety-measures Safety-personnel Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Truck-drivers Warning-signs Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Worker-motivation

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Motor Vehicles - Dump Truck
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE08MI040
• 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:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036706
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-108306
• 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 08MI040, 2009 May ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  22 - Utilities - (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-512:60562956182f417aa70f73caac1322adc84004741c48150ee6bc3e6c1ebe190a57d96917f61a94ae4015bcb2b1f5721b499102130c7fbae856a0972c5c94818c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165307/cdc_165307_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 479.26 KB ]