HOW TO PREVENT VEHICLE BACKOVER INJURIES AND DEATHS

MARCH 30, 2015

Backing vehicles and equipment are a serious occupational hazard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that, of the 443 struck-by fatalities at road construction sites between 2003 and 2010, 143 cases involved a vehicle or mobile equipment backing up.

To help prevent backover injuries and deaths, NIOSH recommends a number of standard operating procedures:

·         Create and enforce an operating procedure that addresses how to work safely and lists best practices to follow when working near vehicles and other equipment.

·         Establish safety procedures for working at night with backing equipment. Ensure high-visibility apparel is worn.

·         Take precautions. Use equipment that creates minimal blind spots or has proximity warning devices.

·         Before work begins, design the worksites to minimize or eliminate the need for backing vehicles and equipment.

·         Hire a competent person to supervise worksites involving backing vehicles and equipment.

·         Be sure drivers know not to back up equipment unless they are under the direction of a spotter.

·         Use barrels, barricades, cones or reflective devices to guide vehicles and equipment away from workers.

·         Post signs informing workers where it is safe to walk.

NIOSH states that before work begins, vehicle and equipment operators need to inspect their machinery for any issues. Ensure everything, including mirrors and windows, is clear and in good working order. If something is found to be defective, remove the vehicle or equipment from service until repairs are made.

When operating equipment, know its blind spots. If you lose contact with your spotter for any reason, immediately stop work.

NIOSH also notes that clear communication is key. “At the start of each shift, review communications signals (verbal, hand signals, flags) between spotters, machine operators, truck drivers, and workers on foot,” the agency states.

For workers on foot near backing vehicles or equipment, NIOSH recommends employees adhere to the following:

·         Wear appropriate high-visibility personal protective equipment.

·         Know the blind spots of vehicles and equipment you work near.

·         Never approach a piece of equipment or vehicle without a clear signal of acknowledgment from the operator.

·         Avoid areas where vehicles and equipment travel.

·         Stay alert for the sound of reversing alarms.

·         Avoid complacency. Always know your surroundings.

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VEHICLE & EQUIPMENT OPERATION : BACKING EQUIPMENT AND SNOWPLOWS

Vehicle backing accidents can happen at any time of the year, but when winter comes and there is snow to be cleared, this type of incident becomes even more likely. It seems like every year a backing accident involving a motorist and county equipment occurs in Michigan, despite all the efforts of the County Road Commissions to avoid these problems. However, you may also be interested to know that there are a number of backing accidents that occur in Road Commission garages and even in Road Commission yards. Often times, employees are injured or property is damaged.

Backing accidents are due to a great many factors, including poor visibility, blind spots, difficult terrain, and driver fatigue or inattentiveness. But, let’s face it, the motoring public generally doesn’t focus much attention on avoiding snowplows or other vehicles/equipment with which they share the road. So it is your responsibility as a Road Commission employee to take extra care while out on the road.

That makes avoiding an accident your responsibility, a responsibility that all county employees have to protect the public, but also a responsibility mandated by law. There may be serious legal repercussions if you get into a vehicle backing accident, so even though you as an operator may be doing everything else correctly, you should still remember that you are the one driving the 160,000-pound truck. Let’s not dwell on the negative, however. The point of our discussion today is to make sure that everyone on the road gets home safely.

Here are some strategies that veteran drivers use to avoid vehicle backing accidents. First of all, try to make a mental note of all the vehicles around you as you drive. If you see a motorist stop or turn off, then you can cross them off your list; but if not, then that vehicle is likely hiding somewhere in your blind spots or dead zone. Use curves in the road to help you. When entering an intersection, come to a stop at an angle if it’s safe to do so. If it’s dark out, use reflected light from snow banks or trees as additional queues that a vehicle is behind you. Activate your lights and beacons so that you are more visible. Ensure that back up alarms are functioning properly. Keep looking in your mirrors. Every few seconds you should be checking your mirrors. Remember to look and lean to see as much in your mirrors as possible. Stop and let the motorist pass before you begin clearing an intersection, but be aware that some motorists may get confused in these situations and may not react like you think they should. Back slowly at first, again, keeping an eye out for anything behind you. Finally, if you are backing and you feel an unusual amount of resistance, or the back end of the truck begins to rise, stop immediately! Check traffic so that you’re not going to be struck by a vehicle yourself, and get out and look.

The most important thing is to be ready! If you operate a snowplow or any other heavy equipment on or near the public right of way, it’s not a matter of if a motorist will come too close to you, it’s a matter of when. So stay alert and be ready. Most of all, remember to drive safely.

 

A SEMI TRUCK TORE AWAY 100 FEET OF GUARDRAIL BEFORE PLUNGING PARTWAY DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE IN CAJON PASS AND RUPTURING AT LEAST ONE FUEL TANK. IT SPILLED 50 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL, 15 GALLONS OF MOTOR OIL AND 20 GALLONS OF ANTI-FREEZE

MARCH 29, 2015

CAJON PASS, CALIFORNIA

A semi-truck crashed heading up the hill Sunday, spilling fuel and causing multiple freeway lanes to be closed for most of the day.   The big-rig crash and fuel spill that occurred early Sunday, March 29, was expected to keep the northbound lanes of I-15 jammed through the Cajon Pass until early Monday, Caltrans officials warned.  Cajon Pass is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States.

“The cleanup is going to take until at least midnight,” Caltrans spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said at 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, northbound I-15 – the main road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas – already had been bottlenecked for eight hours. Traffic was gridlocked from just below the summit of the pass to the junction with I-215 in Devore at the base of Cajon Pass, 12 miles south of the accident site.

And there’s no easy detour, so Kasinga’s advice to motorists was blunt and simple: Avoid the Cajon Pass until Monday.

“If they don’t have to travel, don’t,” she said. “But if you’re going to go that way, make sure you have a good-running car and a full tank of gas, because you’re going to be in it for a couple of hours.”

While not quite glacial, mid-afternoon traffic was mind-numbingly slow – about 10 mph.

“It’s not moving,” Kasinga conceded.

The wreck was reported at 6:52 a.m. Sunday in the upper Cajon Pass, about two miles south of Oak Hill Road. The big-rig’s driver apparently escaped unharmed.

Hauling 20,000 pounds of electronics, the truck tore away 100 feet of guardrail before plunging partway down the mountainside and rupturing at least one fuel tank.

“The truck ‘rode’ the guardrail for about 300 feet before he went over the side,” Kasinga said. “The truck is about 200 feet over the side. He’s extremely lucky he didn’t roll.”

The truck is owned by Fullerton-based Western Regional Delivery Service, Kasinga said.

For most of the day, the crash closed the two right-hand lanes, leaving three open.

But at 3 p.m., authorities closed a third lane so a heavy-duty tow truck could move into position to winch up the stranded truck.

Three lanes were still closed late Sunday.

“And after they recover the rig, there’s another two to four hours on the cleanup,” Kasinga said of the spilled 50 gallons of diesel fuel, 15 gallons of motor oil and 20 gallons of anti-freeze.

PGG’s FUEL DELIVERY DRIVER MISTAKENLY DUMPS 150 GALLONS OF DIESEL INTO BASEMENT, LEADING INTO THE DEMOLITION OF A HOME IN OREGON

MARCH 27, 2015 

PENDLETON, OREGON (AP)

An Oregon couple took it all in stride as they watched the demolition of a house they owned for nearly 30 years.  Demolition began Thursday on a Pendleton couple’s home in the wake of a local company dumping 150 gallons of diesel into their basement.

Brent Merriman told the East Oregonian newspaper (http://is.gd/QvOI10 ) that he and Michele Lowary moved out of the house and rented a place across the street last year after a worker accidentally dumped 150 gallons of diesel into their basement.

On Friday, Merriman and Lowary watched as workers in two excavators smashed their home in Pendleton and dropped chunks of it into a semitrailer.

Merriman said the materials filled two trailer loads on Thursday, the first day of the demolition.

A Pendleton Grain Growers (PGG) employee made the mistake Nov. 24, 2014. A spokeswoman for the agricultural co-operative said after the incident that the driver was confused about where to deliver the fuel. The house used heating oil some years ago, and the driver pumped the diesel into the basement.

She said the company would work with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and contractors to clean up the mess, and Pendleton Grain Growers would take steps to make sure such a mistake is not repeated.

The co-op’s insurance is covering the cost of demolishing the home and building a new, larger one in the same spot. Rebuilding, however, won’t start until the site is tested for contamination.

This was the second diesel spill at a Pendleton-area home in less than a year. A semi crashed March 1, 2014, on Highway 37, about a mile-and-half north of the city. Its trailer broke off, landed in a gully and spilled 5,000 gallons of diesel near a 109-year-old farm home.

That led to the removal of 20,000 cubic feet of earth, and the demolition of the old house.

Source, http://www.eastoregonian.com

EAST VILLAGE DEADLY GAS EXPLOSION: INVESTIGATION WAS FOCUSING ON WORK THAT WAS BEING DONE WITHIN 121 SECOND AVENUE, RATHER THAN ON PROBLEMS WITH INFRASTRUCTURE

MARCH 29, 2015

EAST VILLAGE, NY

Firefighters worked on Sunday afternoon to pull two bodies from the scene of an explosion that demolished three buildings in the East Village.

One of the bodies — found after three days of sifting through the wreckage at Second Avenue and Seventh Street — had been identified as Nicholas Figueroa, who had been on a date at Sushi Park, a restaurant at 121 Second Avenue.  Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said on Sunday evening that “everyone who was reported missing has been found,” appearing to confirm that the second body was that of Moises Ismael Locón Yac, 27, a busboy at Sushi Park, who was the only other person reported missing.

“We continue to search,” Mr. Nigro said at a news conference at the site, although “the likelihood of anyone else being here is very small.”

For the missing men’s family and friends, the news brought to an end an agonizing vigil. Now the grim task of searching for remains will give way to the complex one of pinpointing the cause of Thursday’s explosion. On Sunday, rescue workers could be seen digging through the rubble backed by cranes hoisting debris and a front loader pushing twisted metal and bits of furniture into a pile on a street. Rescuers had been using used cadaver dogs to search for victims.

At a nearby restaurant, Local 92, a sign read: "Our hearts [are] with people who got hurt and lost their homes."

In all, three buildings collapsed out of four that caught fire, and 11 buildings were evacuated, leaving residents of 144 apartments homeless.

Investigators were looking into whether gas and plumbing work being done privately in one building led to the explosion, and utility Con Edison said that its utility crew found dangerous gas line connections that created a "hazardous situation" during a visit in August prompted by the smell of gas in the basement.

The utility said it shut off the building's gas for about 10 days, until it was determined to be safe.

The basement could hold the key to the cause of the devastation, police said. On Friday, de Blasio said the blast was possibly tied to someone inappropriately tapping into a gas line.

Nigro also said workers had not reached the basement of the building and authorities had not reached any conclusions about the cause of the blast. 

An hour before the blast Con Edison inspectors had been at the scene and determined that pre-existing work was not satisfactory, but the problems were not safety-related, de Blasio said. 

 On Sunday, Joseph J. Esposito, the commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management, said the investigation was focusing on work that was being done within 121 Second Avenue, rather than on problems with infrastructure, where blame for a building collapse in East Harlem last year has fallen.