WSH Alert – Worker Pinned by an Excavator
Incident
In an accident, a worker was tasked to control the traffic along a road so as to allow an excavator to move out of its parking area to carry out some works. During the process of reversing onto the road, the excavator ran over leg of the worker. The operator did not realize that the worker was standing behind his excavator when he reversed it.
Recommendations
- Risk assessment must be carried out before starting any work. Through risk assessment, employers and workers can identify potential hazards and take appropriate actions to eliminate the hazards or reduce the risks involved. Control measures and safe work procedures must be established, communicated and implemented to ensure the safety and health of the workers involved.
- It is important for the Management to show commitment and put in place an effective workplace safety and health management programme. Through this, operations within the organization would be guided through a safety policy, establishment of a safety management system and proper work procedures.
- When managing the traffic in the vicinity of heavy equipment, the worker must ensure that he is visible to the operator of the heavy vehicle. Standing closely behind a moving vehicle is very dangerous and should be strictly prohibited.
- There should be an effective communication protocol between the operator and the worker. Clear and precise signals should be given to the operator that there are no hazards behind the heavy equipment before it is allowed to reverse from its position.
- During the case study, the committee has a strong feeling that this kind of situation is not distant from the company’s ordinary scope of work. Director Mr. Chia urges from now on, every site, every excavator SHALL point at least one qualified banks man to guide and ward what ever operation the excavator is doing. Strong communication between the operator and the banksman, banksman and the by-passer, has been emphasized as well.
