Construction Middle East: Arabian Civil Engineers by GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 014, Sau | Page 36

Working With Heavy Equipment
Means Working With Risk
It is one of the common construction accidents.
No workplace is ever safe from accidents
especially in the field of engineering. Risks
and hazards are always present in all
offices, sites, and laboratories where there
is physical work – but construction sites
have more risk to them because of heavy
equipment.
Bulky machines used in operations like
cranes, forklifts, dump trucks, excavators,
and bulldozers pose danger for
construction workers and site engineers. A
single mistake with heavy equipment could
yield to serious accidents, and worse death.
There are certain types of heavy machines
accidents which happen more frequently
than the rest. According to the
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), about 75% of fatal
accidents which are “struck-by” involve
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Construction Leaders • April 2017
heavy equipment like trucks or cranes. This
kind of accidents is one of the most
common in fatal construction accidents,
together with falls.
Examples of construction accidents
revolving around heavy machinery vary from
workers pinned between vehicles and wall
or objects, workers hit by moving machines
and vehicles, workers crushed by unloading
activity, to collision. They can also be toxic
exposure, explosions, and spills.
OSHA lists safety standards for machines
as one of the top 10 most frequently cited
OSHA violations. Important ways to change
this and prevent from causing damage are
awareness of the employees of the OSHA
safety standards, proper hiring and training
of construction workers, and safe operation
of machinery.