WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS

From the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Summary

Workers on roadway construction 

worksites are exposed to possible injury and death from moving construction vehicles and equipment 

[NIOSH 2001].

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 

recommends that specific procedures and controls be in place at 

roadway construction worksites to 

help prevent injuries and deaths 

from backing construction vehicles 

and equipment.

Preventing Worker Injuries and Deaths from 

Backing Construction Vehicles and Equipment 

at Roadway Construction Worksites

Description of 

Exposure

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics 

review of the 962 fatal workplace injuries at road construction sites from 2003 

to 2010, 443 were due to a worker being 

struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment 

[BLS 2013]. Workers were fatally struck 

143 times by a vehicle or mobile equipment that was backing up. In 84 of these 

cases, the worker was fatally struck by a 

dump truck that was backing up. 

Between 1992 and 2009, NIOSH and 

State partners investigated 36 deaths of 

workers killed by backing construction 

vehicles or equipment on roadway construction worksites through the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation 

(FACE) Program.

Case Study

In October 2006, a 28-year-old laborer was backed over by a tack truck 

(Figure 1) while working as a flagger 

on an asphalt resurfacing job in a residential roadway work zone. The victim was standing with his back to the 

reversing tack truck when a dump 

truck driver attempted to warn him by 

waving his arms. The tack truck struck 

the victim; the driver thought he had 

passed over a manhole cover and continued backing. The tack truck driver 

stopped when he saw the dump truck 

driver running and waving his arms in 

his mirror. Both drivers found the victim at the front of the tack truck lying 

face down on a man-hole cover on the 

ground [NIOSH 2007].

Controls

NIOSH and State FACE investigations 

identified the following controls that 

employers, contractors, workers, and 

construction vehicle and equipment 

manufacturers should take to protect 

workers from injury while working 

around backing construction vehicles 

and equipment on roadway construction worksites.

Employers, including 

Contractors, and SubContractors

Standard Operating 

Procedures

 Develop, implement, and enforce 

standard operating procedures that 

address worker safety and minimize 

work to be performed near vehicles 

and equipment.

Figure 1. FACE Case Study. Photograph courtesy of the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration [NIOSH 2007]
 Use equipment designed to minimize blind areas and 

equipment with proximity warning systems.

 Establish safe work practices for night work and backing 

equipment, requiring high visibility apparel.

 Design worksites to minimize backing vehicles and equipment [RWZSHCA 2005].

 Provide adequate oversight and supervision by a competent*

 person.

 Ensure that drivers only back under the direction of a 

spotter.

 Ensure daily communication between the prime and subcontractors to discuss any changes or revisions in construction traffic flow.

 Channel construction vehicles and equipment away from 

workers using visual safety devices (retro reflective barrels, delineators, portable barricades, cones).

 Install signs to guide workers on foot with respect to traffic areas, vehicle flow, and worker-free zones.

Compliance

 Ensure compliance with worker safety, traffic control, 

vehicle regulations, and consensus standards pertaining 

to work in roadway construction worksites.

— 29 CFR 1926†, Subparts O and G

— Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices [DOT 

2009]

— ANSI/ASSE A10.47‒2009

— ANSI/ISEA 207‒2011

— ANSI/ISEA 107‒2010

Equipment Operation and Servicing

 Ensure that construction vehicles and equipment operating onsite are maintained in safe operating condition at all 

times by developing and implementing the following:

— A scheduled maintenance program for all roadway 

construction vehicles and equipment.

— Safety features (reverse alarm, video cameras) installed in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications, that operate as intended, and function properly.

* Competent person is defined by OSHA as one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and 

who has the authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.

† Code of Federal Regulations. See CFR in References.

— Inspection of all vehicles, equipment, and safety devices 

(brakes, lights, horns, and reverse alarms) at the beginning of each work shift. Defective vehicles, equipment, 

and safety devices should be immediately reported and 

removed from service until repairs are made.

— Installation of collision avoidance or proximity warning systems (radar and sonar devices, or tag-based 

systems that use personal electronic tags to detect a 

marker field generated by a transmitter on the vehicle) or monitoring technologies (video cameras and 

additional mirrors) on construction vehicles and 

equipment to increase the likelihood that equipment 

operators will detect workers on foot around their 

equipment.

Vehicle and Equipment Operators

 Inspect your vehicle, equipment, and safety devices (reverse alarm, mirrors, and windows) at the beginning of 

each shift and report any deficiencies to your supervisor 

or employer; remove any defective equipment from service until repairs are made.

 Ensure mirrors and windows are functioning, in good 

condition, clean and properly adjusted.

 Be aware of equipment and vehicle blind areas and watch 

for workers.

 Use and maintain contact (visually, verbally, or by hand 

signals) with a spotter when backing any vehicle or equipment [WDOLI 2007]. If contact with the spotter is lost, 

STOP immediately. 

Communication

Develop, implement, and test the method(s) of communication that will be used during operations. At the start of 

each shift, review communications signals (verbal, hand signals, flags) between spotters, machine operators, truck drivers, and workers on foot. Prohibit the use of personal cellular phones and head phones or similar items that could pose 

a distraction [VDOLI 2009]. Provide two-way radios to personnel who coordinate vehicular and equipment activity 

within the worksite.

Training

 Develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive safety and training program in the workers’ primary language 

and at the appropriate literacy level, that includes the following information.

— Targeted training on the operator’s visual limits of the 

specific equipment being used on the site, and provided 
to both equipment operators, and workers required to 

work on foot near the equipment blind areas [NIOSH 

2009; ISO 2006].

— Standard operating procedures that minimize exposure of workers on foot to moving construction vehicles and equipment.

— Daily pre-work safety meetings to discuss the work to 

be performed, safety hazards, safe work procedures, 

and the method of communicating changes in the 

work plan.

Workers

Workers on Foot

 Always wear high visibility apparel that is appropriate for 

your job task and work environment [ANSI/ISEA 2010].

 Be aware of equipment and vehicle blind areas and avoid 

being near these areas.

 Confirm communications signals with an operator 

and do not approach until the operator gives acknowledgment.

 Be aware of equipment travel paths and avoid standing or 

walking in these areas.

 LISTEN for reverse signal alarms in the area.

 Do not rely solely on one safety practice, always be aware 

of your surroundings and ensure that workers are aware 

of you.

Construction Vehicles and Equipment 

Manufacturers

 Minimize the hazards of blind areas of construction vehicles and equipment.

— Reduce the blind areas during the design of new models.

— Incorporate video cameras and proximity warning 

technology to help monitor the presence of workers 

in blind areas.

— Include collision avoidance technology on equipment.

— Specify in the owner’s manual any upgrades or changes 

in lever, button, or pedal locations from model to model and the locations of blind areas on the equipment.

After Market Installers

 Ensure that safety equipment is installed in accordance with 

the manufacturer’s specifications and operates as intended.

Acknowledgments

The principal contributors to this publication were Nancy 

T. Romano and Virgil J. Casini, NIOSH Division of Safety 

Research (DSR). Statistical and development assistance was 

provided by Suzanne Marsh, David Fosbroke, and Jennifer 

Lincoln, DSR. Todd Ruff, formerly Spokane Research Laboratory, gave consultation on work zone safety measures.

References

ANSI/ASSE [2009]. American national standard for work 

zone safety for highway construction. New York, NY: 

American National Standards Institute, ANSI/ASSE 

A10.47‒2009. 

ANSI/ISEA [2010]. American national standard for highvisibility safety apparel and headwear devices. New York, 

NY: American National Standards Institute, ANSI/ISEA 

107–2010.

ANSI/ISEA [2011]. American national standard for highvisibility public safety vest. New York, NY: American 

National Standards Institute, ANSI/ISEA 207–2011. 

BLS [2013]. An analysis of fatal occupational injuries at 

road construction sites, 2003–2010. Washington, DC: 

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS 

Monthly Review. November, pp. 37–40.

CFR. Code of Federal regulations. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Government Printing Office, Office of the Federal Register.

DOT [2009]. Manual on uniform traffic control devices 

(MUTCD). U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal 

Highway Administration. http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov 

ISO [2006]. International Organization for Standardization 

earth-moving machinery-operator’s field of view-test 

method and performance criteria. Geneva, Switzerland: 

ISO Central Secretariat, ISO 5006‒2006.

NIOSH [2007]. Laborer dies when backed over by a tack 

truck in residential roadway construction work zone— 

North Carolina. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. FACE 

2007–02. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/in-house/

full200702.html

NIOSH [2009]. NIOSH highway work zone safety construction equipment visibility. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/

highwayworkzones/BAD/imagelookup.html

NIOSH [2001]. Building safer work zones: measures to 

prevent worker injuries from vehicles and equipment. 

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001‒128. http://www.

cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2001-128

RWZSHCA [2005]. Internal traffic control plans. Washington, 

DC: Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America 

under the Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Coalition 

Alliance, CDC Contract 212‒2003‒M‒02677.

WDOLI [2007]. Safety standards for construction work,
For more information on improving motorist, workers, and pedestrian safety in roadway work zones, visit the National Work 

Zone Information Clearinghouse at www.workzone-safety.org. The 

OSHA Preventing Backovers Topic Page at www.osha.gov/doc/topics/backover/.

For further guidance on preventing worker injuries and deaths 

from backing construction vehicles and equipment at roadway 

construction worksites, visit the NIOSH Safety and Health Topic 

Page on Highway Work Zones at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/highwayworkzones/.

The information in this document is based on investigative reports from the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program and data from the Bureau of Labor For information 

about the NIOSH FACE Program or to subscribe to receive FACE 

Reports visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/.

To receive documents or other information about occupational 

safety and health topics, contact NIOSH at

Phone: 1-800–CDC–INFO (1–800–232–4636)

TTY: 1–888–232–6348 ■ E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov

or visit the NIOSH website at www.cdc.gov/niosh.

For a monthly update on news at NIOSH, subscribe to NIOSH 

eNews by visiting www.cdc.gov/niosh/eNews.

Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH. In addition, citations to websites external to 

NIOSH do not constitute NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Furthermore, 

NIOSH is not responsible for the content of these websites.

This document is in the public domain and may be freely copied or reprinted. NIOSH encourages all readers of the Workplace 

Solutions to make them available to all interested employers and 

workers.

As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

NIOSH is the Federal agency responsible for conducting 

research and making recommendations to prevent workrelated illnesses and injuries. All Workplace Solutions are 

based on research studies that show how worker exposures to hazardous agents or activities can be significantly 

reduced.

Preventing Worker Injuries and Deaths from Backing 

Construction Vehicles and Equipment at Roadway 

Construction Worksites

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2014–125

safer • healthier • peopletm

For More Information

June 2014

motor vehicles on construction sites. State of Washington, Department of Labor and Industries. Washington 

Administrative Code, Chapter 296‒155‒610.

VDOLI [2009]. Virginia labor standard: Reverse signal operation 

safety requirements for motor vehicles, machinery and 

equipment in general industry and the construction industry. 

Virginia: Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. VDOLI 

16 VAC 25-97 2009.