In response to a construction worker’s death, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is renewing a Regional Emphasis Program in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. After a waste hauling truck hit the 47 year old worker while on the job in November of last year, OSHA is increasing efforts to promote awareness of safety and health procedures that help prevent injury, illness and death.
The worker who died in this specific incident was one of 35 workers in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri who experienced fatal struck-by vehicle hazards while on the job since 2012.
“Struck-by vehicle fatalities and injuries are 100 percent preventable. Yet, since 2012, of all fatalities OSHA has investigated in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, 20 percent have involved struck-by vehicle hazards,” said Marcia Drumm, regional administrator for OSHA. “Employers must do more to prevent these tragedies including evaluating their workplaces to identify and eliminate hazards, and training employees to recognize hazardous conditions.”
OSHA has a Construction Struck-by eTool program available online that deals with struck-by incidents from vehicles and falling/flying objects, as well as those inflicted while constructing masonry walls. Each subcategory gives tips on the extent to which each incident is hazardous and some on how to avoid being injured in a given situation.
There are also tools available through OSHA about the “Evaluate Your Entire Surroundings” (E.Y.E.S.) program. Some materials can be found only in OSHA regional offices, while other brochures and posters are available online.
Struck-by vehicle fatalities in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri are a priority that safety and health professionals cannot afford to ignore. As per an OSHA news release from 2013, from 2008-2013 “15 percent of all workplace fatalities investigated by the Kansas City Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration have involved struck-by vehicle accidents in the workplace.” By moving forward with their Regional Emphasis Program, OSHA is giving a clear message that these fatalities are unacceptable tragedies.
