08 Feb Heavy Equipment Safety

Heavy Equipment Safety

Heavy equipment is designed to move, lift, excavate, grade, or handle large loads and materials. Because of its size, weight, power, and limited visibility, heavy equipment can cause severe or fatal injuries when it is operated improperly or when employees enter its operating area without appropriate precautions.

Operators and employees working around heavy equipment must remain alert and understand the equipment’s blind spots, swing radius, travel path, and operating limitations.

Guide for Discussion

Working Around Heavy Equipment

• Only trained and authorized employees may operate heavy equipment.
• Remain alert to equipment movement and changing jobsite conditions.
• Stay outside the equipment’s operating area unless your work requires you to enter.
• Never assume the operator can see you. Heavy equipment may have significant blind spots.
• Establish eye contact or otherwise communicate with the operator before approaching equipment.
• Stay clear of swing radiuses, articulation points, pinch points, and areas where equipment or attachments could move unexpectedly.
• Never walk or stand beneath raised buckets, blades, booms, forks, or suspended loads.
• Never place yourself between moving equipment and a fixed object.
• Do not walk alongside moving equipment where you could be caught beneath the wheels or tracks.
• Use designated pedestrian routes whenever available.
• Obey barricades, warning signs, spotters, and established exclusion zones.
• Wear required high-visibility clothing when exposed to moving vehicles or equipment.
• Never ride on equipment unless the manufacturer has provided an approved passenger seat and restraint system.
• Be especially cautious around excavations, trenches, slopes, overhead power lines, structures, and congested work areas.

Operator Safety

Before operating heavy equipment:

• Conduct the required pre-use inspection.
• Check brakes, steering, tires or tracks, hydraulic systems, lights, alarms, mirrors, cameras, controls, and safety devices.
• Make sure windows, mirrors, and cameras are clean and properly adjusted.
• Inspect the work area for employees, equipment, overhead hazards, underground utilities, unstable ground, excavations, and other hazards.
• Ensure guards and rollover protective structures (ROPS), when provided, are properly maintained.
• Wear the seat belt whenever operating equipment equipped with ROPS and a seat belt.
• Keep arms, legs, and other body parts inside the operator’s compartment.
• Operate at a speed appropriate for the terrain, visibility, traffic, load, and jobsite conditions.
• Sound the horn where necessary to warn pedestrians and other equipment operators.
• Use a trained spotter when visibility is restricted or site conditions require one.
• Stop operations if visual or other established communication with the spotter is lost.

Never operate equipment that has a safety-related defect until the equipment has been evaluated and the defect corrected as required.

Backing and Blind Spots

Backing operations present a significant struck-by hazard.

• Avoid unnecessary backing whenever practical.
• Check the entire area before backing.
• Verify that backup alarms and other warning devices are functioning.
• Use mirrors and cameras where provided, but do not rely on them as the only means of determining that the area is clear.
• Use a spotter when the operator does not have a clear view of the travel path or when required by site procedures.
• Workers on foot must remain outside the equipment’s travel path and blind spots.

Transporting Heavy Equipment

Before loading, unloading, or transporting equipment:

• Inspect the trailer, ramps, decking, tie-down points, chains, binders, and other securement equipment.
• Confirm that the transport vehicle and trailer have sufficient capacity for the equipment.
• Know the equipment’s approximate weight, dimensions, and center of gravity.
• Select a firm, level loading and unloading area whenever possible.
• Keep unauthorized personnel away from the loading area.
• Remove debris, mud, ice, oil, and other conditions that could cause slipping or loss of traction.
• Align equipment properly with the ramps and load or unload slowly and under control.
• Use a spotter when necessary.
• Position the equipment to maintain proper weight distribution on the trailer.
• Lower buckets, blades, attachments, and other components as appropriate for transport.
• Secure booms and other movable components against unintended movement.
• Secure the equipment using properly rated tie-down equipment and appropriate attachment points.
• Verify that the parking brake is set and follow manufacturer requirements for transmission and equipment positioning.
• Confirm that the load complies with applicable vehicle height, width, weight, and securement requirements.
• Reinspect the equipment and load securement as required during transportation.

Protecting Employees and the Public

Where heavy equipment operates near workers, pedestrians, motorists, or the public, appropriate controls may include:

• Barricades and exclusion zones
• Traffic-control devices
• Signs and warning devices
• Trained flaggers or spotters
• High-visibility apparel
• Designated pedestrian routes
• Controlled access to the work area
• Adequate lighting for nighttime or low-visibility operations

Operators must stop operations whenever a person enters an unsafe location and work must not resume until the area is clear.

Remember

Heavy equipment leaves little margin for error. Stay out of blind spots and swing areas, communicate with operators, use seat belts and spotters when required, and never place yourself between moving equipment and a fixed object.