FACE IT: Report Slides: Officer Struck While Assisting with Temporary Traffic Control on an Interstate – Texas

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program
• Description:
  On February 25, 2018, a 63-year-old police officer was struck by a vehicle, while directing traffic on a three-lane interstate highway. The officer had responded to a motor vehicle versus pedestrian hit and run fatality on the interstate and was tasked to assist with traffic control. A vehicle that was driven by an individual under the influence of a prescription drug affecting the central nervous system (CNS), traveling at approximately 68 mph, approached the scene, and failed to funnel off the interstate exit lane, striking the officer. The officer was transported to the hospital in serious condition and succumbed to his injuries on April 27, 2018. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS Occupational injuries and fatalities are often the result of one or more contributing factors or key events in a larger sequence of events that ultimately result in the injury or fatality. NIOSH investigators identified the following unrecognized hazards as key contributing factors in this incident: 1) Fire apparatus on scene for initial incident were not utilized for continued scene protection. 2) Law enforcement officer standing in an area exposed to moving traffic. 3) Impaired driver not following traffic patterns requiring heightened situational awareness. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS - NIOSH investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences: 1) Emergency responders should position patrol units and other emergency vehicles as they arrive on-scene to maximize the protected work zone for the emergency responders. 2) Law enforcement agencies should ensure their standard operating procedure (SOP) provides step-by-step guidance on how to properly establish a temporary traffic control plan, including advance warning and transition areas for highway/roadway emergency incidents. 3) Law enforcement officers and other emergency responders should maintain situational awareness within the established temporary traffic control zone to ensure they minimize their exposure to oncoming traffic. 4) State, county, and municipal agencies responding to roadway incidents are encouraged to use and practice the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Incident Command System (ICS) to guide the shift change process during emergency events. 5) State, county, and municipal authorities should consider promoting public awareness campaigns to inform motorists of the risks that law enforcement officers face while operating along the roadside and of the need to follow "Move Over" laws. 6) State, county, and municipal authorities should consider promoting public awareness campaigns to educate motorists of the limitations that substances and/or medications may impose on safe operation of motor vehicles and the dangers that impaired driving imposes on motorists and others. The full version of this report is available here: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/leo/reports/L202101.html. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Emergency Responders Law Enforcement Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Drivers Emergency Responders Fatalities Law Enforcement Workers Motor Vehicles Police Officers Recommendations Region 6 Safety Practices Traumatic Injuries Work Zone

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Arson
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Law Enforcement Officers (LEO)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHLEO202101RS
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066062
• 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, LEO 2021-01, 2022 Sep; :1-10
• Contact Point Address:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation, Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch, Division of Safety Research, NIOSH, 1000 Frederick Lane, M/S 1808, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505-2888
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20180225
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1130034fd1f6df9ec2cbe6d9b3b9e51f5a44b188063e70a37d629f4ecb3f9adb22ab5695d3b4a73525e414b9de557e1f7a11f5aeee9e44be97ea5bf73ca62ff5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228492/cdc_228492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB ]