Struck-By Hazards and Heavy Equipment

Blind spots, swing radius, spotters, and high visibility habits that keep workers on foot from being struck by equipment and trucks.

Download PDF with sign-in sheet Browse all

Equipment & tools · 29 CFR 1926.600

Struck-by injuries are one of construction's Fatal Four, and heavy equipment is the biggest player. An excavator swings faster than you can react, a loader operator cannot see a person crouched behind the counterweight, and a backing truck sounds like every other backing truck on site. Most equipment strikes happen to workers on foot who were sure the operator saw them.

Key hazards

• Operator blind spots behind and beside dozers, loaders, excavators, and trucks
• The swing radius of excavators and cranes pinning workers against something fixed
• Backing trucks and equipment in congested areas
• Buckets and loads traveling over the heads of workers on foot
• Poor visibility at dawn, dusk, and in dust, made worse without high visibility clothing
• Workers caught between equipment and a wall, trench edge, or another machine

Safe practices

• Make eye contact with the operator and get an acknowledgment before approaching any machine. If you cannot see the operator's eyes, they cannot see you.
• Stay out of the swing radius, and barricade the swing zone of excavators and cranes so nobody wanders into it.
• Wear high visibility clothing anywhere equipment or vehicles operate.
• Use a trained spotter for backing trucks and equipment in congested areas, agree on signals, and keep the spotter out of the machine's path.
• Never walk behind operating equipment or count on hearing the backup alarm. On a busy site, alarms become background noise.
• Never put yourself between a machine and a fixed object, a wall, a trench, a stockpile, or another machine.
• Keep buckets and loads low when traveling, and never work or walk under a suspended load.
• Operators, wear your seat belt whenever the machine is moving, and ground the bucket, blade, or forks before you climb off.
• Keep your phone in your pocket and ear buds out in equipment zones. Heads up.

Discussion questions

• Where do people on foot and equipment share space on this site, and can we separate them better?
• What is our signal routine with operators here, and does everyone actually use it?
• When was the last time you walked behind a machine without the operator knowing, and what would have made you visible?

If something goes wrong

• If someone is struck or pinned, shut down the equipment, call 911, and do not move the machine or the person until it can be done without making the injury worse, unless they are in immediate danger.
• Secure the scene and keep other equipment out of the area.
• Report the incident and every close call. A near miss with a machine is a free warning, and we only get so many.

Keep the record without the paper

Download the signed attendance sheet, then keep follow-up notes and photos in YakBuildHQ's timestamped project record — start free.