Abstract
Results of studies of worker injuries and fatalities associated with heavy earthmoving equipment were described. An analysis of 13764 injuries associated with accidents involving bulldozers, front end loaders, graders, scraper loaders, and haulage trucks showed that one in 66 injuries resulted in death. Nonoperators when acting as operators had an especially high risk of suffering a fatal injury. Injuries associated with over/the/highway haulage trucks resulted in a fatality to injury (FI) ratio of one death for every 36 injuries (1:36). Front end loaders and off/the/highway haulage trucks had FI ratios of 1:54 and 1:63, respectively. FI ratios in the various occupational groups were: foremen, 1:19; truck drivers, 1:47; laborers, 1:59; front end loader operators, 1:61; and mechanics, 1:154. Falls from equipment were the most common injury producing accident, accounting for 25 percent of all injuries studied. The author recommends performing an epidemiological study of heavy equipment operators to identify the difference in risk factors between those who are injured and those who operate equipment without injury, studying existing access sites to equipment, and performing an ergonomic study of the operator's work zone.
