Abstract
On October 27, 2003, a 49-year-old male volunteer Assistant Chief (the victim) was fatally injured after being struck by a privately owned vehicle (POV) at a road construction site. At approximately 2145 hours, the victim and six other volunteer fire fighters responded in three fire apparatus to a reported smoking generator at a road construction site. Two of the three fire apparatus returned to the fire department. The victim and two other fire fighters remained with the brush truck to wait for a representative of the construction company. Upon leaving, the crew stopped to replace a road-closed barricade at the entrance to the construction site. Shortly thereafter, a civilian in a POV failed to make the turn necessary to detour around the construction site and struck the victim who was standing next to the brush truck. The victim was dragged about 60 ft and then trapped beneath the truck. He was declared dead at the scene. NIOSH concludes that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1. ensure that fire apparatus are positioned to protect fire fighters from traffic; 2. establish, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding safe work practices while responding to calls in or near moving traffic; 3. train personnel in safe procedures for operating in or near moving traffic; 4. ensure that when operating at an emergency scene, personnel wear high-visibility safety apparel suitable to the incident, such as a highly visible, reflectorized flagger's vest (e.g., strong yellow-green or orange).
