eLCOSH : Roadway Safety: Module 3: Struck or Crushed

Roadway Safety: Module 3: Struck or Crushed

Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America

This document is one in a program produced under an OSHA grant by a consortium of the Laborers' Health and Safety Fund N.A, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the American Road and Transportation Builders Assn, and the National Asphalt Pavement Assn. All of the documents from this set that are on eLCOSH can be found by clicking on Job Site, Heavy construction, and scrolling to the Street & highway heading. Or to download a complete version of the computerized program, go to http://wzsafety.tamu.edu.

How Can Road Workers Be Struck?

Tools and materials are two major hazards:

Use point of operation guarding on portable hand tools.
Use chain saw safety program.
Assess and use PPE. To avoid being struck or crushed by materials:
Keep workers out of lifting areas, from beneath loads.
Use safe hoisting and rigging practices.
Use safe methods for rigging, hoisting, and setting steel plates, jersey barriers, manhole frames, and manhole covers.
Use PPE — hard hats, footwear, eye protection.

Fig. SC-1B. Keep workers from beneath loads.

Fig. SC-1A. Tools and materials are two major hazards that can strike or crush workers.

Notes:

Ask trainees: What percentage of the injuries are struck/crushed? (About 17% of all serious injuries in highway work involve workers being struck by things other than equipment. Another 3% are workers being crushed between objects. Together, these account for more than one-fifth of all serious injuries in highway work.)

What type of injuries do they get (fractures)?

Ask trainees: What kinds of things could you get hit by on our site? (Take examples from trainees.) How can we avoid this problem?

Operators should never swing loads over workers, traffic, or pedestrians.

Trees and equipment maintenance are hazards. To avoid being struck by trees:

Restrict worker access during felling, trimming, loading. • Falling Object Protective Structures (FOPS) on equipment.
Use safe hoisting, rigging for logs and limbs.

To avoid being struck by equipment parts:

Lockout/tagout/hazardous energy control during maintenance, repair, cleaning, and inspection.

Fig. SC-2B. Lock out and tag out during maintenance.

Fig. SC-2A. Trees and equipment maintenance are hazards that can crush or strike workers.

Notes:

Ask trainees: What are some other items that we haven't discussed that can strike or crush workers in road work? (Answers include falling objects on bridge work, flying materials like plywood caught in the wind, rocks flying out from tires.)

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©2002 Laborers Health & Safety Fund of North America,Washington, DC All rights reserved. This material was produced under grant number 46C1-HT21 from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor to a consortium of the Laborers' Health & Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA), the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. No statement made in this booklet should be construed to convey an impression that any member of the consortium, its affiliates, or employees have assumed any part of the employer's exclusive legal responsibility for providing a "safe and healthful workplace" as mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Produced for the consortium by FOF Communications.