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 34 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.