How to Avoid Heavy Equipment Accidents

Heavy equipment accidents increase and, in some cases, become impossible to avoid in certain situations such as dangerous environments (flood areas, near electric ground wires, on icy or wet surfaces, et cetera). Many heavy equipment accidents occur not as the result of external forces, but instead as the result of human error. Good safety practices will help you to lower the chance of a heavy equipment accident.

Instructions

1. Slow down, pay attention and use common sense. This may seem like simple advice, but many heavy equipment operators rush or have reduced or no focus during potential accident situations if behind on a project. In addition, many heavy equipment operators during rushed or complex projects stop using safety protocols or common sense methods to reduce accidents.

2. Prepare a job site by contacting municipal officials about "unseen" dangers such as ground wires. Heavy equipment easily conducts electricity and a cut in a ground wire by a piece of heavy equipment could lead to driver injury or death from electrocution.

3. Use a "backing up" warning light and alarm to warn anyone within a work zone that a piece of heavy equipment is in use. Also, replace all heavy vehicle mirrors with full spectrum mirrors and blind spot sensors. A "backing up" warning light and alarm only work if noticed and most heavy equipment accidents result for no other reason than the piece of heavy equipment in use was simply too large to have an open 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Mirrors and sensors make it possible for heavy vehicle drivers to "see" the area surrounding their equipment.

4. Keep noise to a minimum at your work site and use walkie-talkies or walkie-talkie cell phones to communicate when there's too much noise to hear easily. Increased noise levels on a worksite makes it difficult for a heavy equipment operators or on-the-ground workers to hear important safety information or information about new site obstacles or hazards.

5. Schedule regular maintenance of your vehicles. A broken heavy vehicle not only can result in costly machine damage and external accidental injuries or deaths, but also operator injury or death. For example, if your heavy vehicle is a large truck responsible for delivery of several tons of supplies on iced roads or in subzero icy conditions, a breakdown caused from improperly maintained equipment could result in death from hypothermia or a vehicle roll from an icy skid.

6. Conduct regular safety assessments, audits and other forms of safety training. This will help ensure that heavy vehicle operators and site workers keep worksite heavy vehicle safety constantly in mind.

7. Know your environmental conditions and the federal and state safety protocols recommended for these conditions and/or your type of heavy vehicle.