FACE Facts: City Laborer Struck and Killed by a Motor Vehicle While Closing a Water Gate Valve

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  What happened? In 2009, a 35-year-old male city water department laborer was fatally injured while responding to a water main break. The victim and a co-worker needed to close up a water main gate valve located in a roadway up the street from the water main break. They parked their work pickup truck just beyond the valve, facing the same direction as the flow of traffic. While the victim was using a gate valve wrench to close the valve, the co-worker was releasing water at a nearby fire hydrant. The co-worker heard a crash and turned to see that the victim had been struck by a minivan and pushed into the rear of their pickup truck. Workers: Use your vehicle as a barrier when performing short-duration roadway work in low-speed roads 1. Once on site, determine the best location for work vehicles and equipment, and the appropriate number and location of traffic control devices. 2. Position the vehicle between workers and approaching traffic, to act as a barrier to protect workers. 3. Turn the vehicle's wheels so that if it is struck from behind it will not hit the worker. 4. Place the vehicle in park and set the brake. 5. Always face and watch for approaching traffic, and minimize time in the roadway. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accident Prevention Fatalities Injuries Personal Protection Personal Protective Equipment PPE Safety Education Safety Practices Signal Devices Signaling Systems Work Environment Workers Worker Safety Work Zone

  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053343
• Citation:
  Boston, MA: Massachusetts State Department of Public Health, 2010 Oct; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  FACE facts: city laborer struck and killed by a motor vehicle while closing a water gate valve
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c73a665679b7b9cfafa3a99557dc31fdf6c261683f8c631288db5232a25f4e667d67660644551d55eb7c15d5659783997ed116541d4bf49f7f0fc52b082dae30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228882/cdc_228882_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.48 MB ]