Injury Narrative: Grade Checker Severely Injured When Backed Over by Grader

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  In May 2015, a 38-year-old grade checker suffered multiple serious injuries when a motor grader backed over him. He had worked for the employer, a construction contractor that does excavation and grading work, for about 10 years. The employer had been contracted to build a parking lot. On the day of the incident, the grade checker was working at the job site along with the operator of a Caterpillar motor grader 120G. The operator was using the grader to level gravel for the parking lot surface. The grade checker - wearing a high-visibility vest, hard hat and ear plugs - was performing his normal job duties. These duties included ensuring that the grade of the parking lot was correct. As he was cleaning gravel off a curb, he noticed that a grade hub, a stake in the ground used as a visual marker for the grader operator after gravel has been poured, was missing its strips of plastic known as feathers. He started walking toward the hub, which was located behind the grader, to replace the feathers. The grader which had been moving forward stopped and then began backing up. The operator checked his mirrors as he backed up. He did not see the grade checker who was approaching the grader from its left rear. As the grader and grade checker moved towards each other, the grade checker stopped at the hub and kneeled down. When he kneeled down, he was in a blind spot of the grader's mirrors; the operator was unable to see him. The grade checker was so focused on his task that he did not notice the grader. The grader's two left tires then ran over the left side of his body. He suffered multiple serious injuries. An investigation found that the grader's back-up alarm was working. The employer was not cited for any safety violations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Construction Industry Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Construction Equipment Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Hazards Injuries Motor Vehicles Noise Levels Safety Measures Safety Practices Traumatic Injuries Visual Fields Work Environment Workers

  More +
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051446
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-142-2015, 2015 Nov; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Injury narrative: grade checker severely injured when backed over by grader
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e597009661bd792c56de25041b636699c95cf30261a9ff8a9cfa4e27375ce32a2b9a7bfc45e0bcf583467d2bd8c970e45197a5116732623278c297ab574404a2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211402/cdc_211402_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 503.30 KB ]