Construction & Landscaping Services Fatality Narrative: Construction Worker Struck by Rollaway Dump Truck

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 45-year-old construction worker died when he was struck by a rollaway dump truck. He worked for the employer, a custom home construction business, for 12 years. He had a wife and five children. When the incident happened, the worker and project manager arrived on site to finish the punch list items for the newly constructed home. One of the items was to pressure wash the long driveway of mud and dirt left behind by the construction. While the worker pressure washed the driveway, the manager went to finish painting the side of the garage. As the worker was pressure washing the driveway, a worker from a landscaping business arrived and parked a commercial medium duty dump truck at the top of the driveway. The truck was loaded with pallets of small pavers, stepping-stones, and crushed rock. The top of the driveway had a very slight, hardly visible slope. The driver told the worker he was going to talk with the homeowner to ask where to put the materials. He left the truck unattended. The worker continued to pressure wash the driveway while the driver went to see the homeowner. Approximately six minutes later the dump truck rolled down the driveway, striking the worker, whose back was towards the truck. No one saw the incident, but the driver, homeowner, and project manager heard the truck roll away and crash. After they saw the truck in a nearby ditch, they came to the front of the house and found the worker facedown in the driveway. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene. Following the incident, investigators found: The dump truck was parked in first gear. The emergency brake was set but did not work. The dump truck was being leased from another landscaping business that owned it. The owner/lessor of the dump truck did not have the required annual DOT commercial motor vehicle inspection done on the truck and knew the emergency brake did not work. REQUIREMENTS: Employers must: Make sure vehicles on construction sites have parking brakes that are maintained in operable condition, engaged properly, and inspected for safety before each shift. Not allow operation of a commercial motor vehicle that is in such a condition as to likely cause an accident or a breakdown of the vehicle. Comply with annual commercial motor vehicle inspection requirements. RECOMMENDATIONS: FACE investigators concluded that to help prevent similar occurrences employers should: Request subcontractors to show current maintenance and safety inspection records, including annual DOT inspection stickers, for any commercial vehicles they own or lease that will be used on the construction site. Do not allow unsafe vehicles to drive on site. Advise site owners to ask other contractors they hire directly to show safety inspection records for any commercial vehicles before they drive on site. Emphasize the need to prevent hazardous vehicle rollaways on site. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Fatalities Safety Education Truck Drivers
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• 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:20068654
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-246-2023, 2023 Oct; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Construction & landscaping services fatality narrative: construction worker struck by rollaway dump truck
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d25428aa42fe8f21307a6692f3962d34804a75251cead88db34d46de0e9ec89b20b26ba1e1131350b8bb920c839cc0c77c31bc6ac12e6a972b64b2d48c17c95
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229200/cdc_229200_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 319.64 KB ]