Struck By Hazards Toolbox Talk
Struck by is one of the four hazards that kill the most construction workers, and a large share of those deaths happen with the vehicle in reverse and nobody behind it who was supposed to be there.
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The talk, read this out
Everybody point at where the trucks and the equipment move on this site today. That is the zone. If you are in it, you need to be seen, and somebody needs to be watching.
Struck by covers three different things and they need three different answers: vehicles and equipment, falling or flying objects, and material that swings or rolls.
Vehicles first. Backing is the one that kills. A pickup, a dump truck, a skid steer, a delivery truck that has never been on this site before. Every one of them has a blind zone directly behind it that is longer than most people believe, and the driver genuinely cannot see you.
The answer is a spotter with agreed hand signals, standing where the driver can see them in the mirror, never behind the vehicle. If the spotter loses sight of the driver, the vehicle stops. And a reverse alarm is not a substitute for a spotter, because on a loud site nobody hears one after the first hour.
High visibility clothing is how you get counted as a person rather than a shape. Vests on everybody on a site with vehicle movement, and anybody working near public traffic needs it as a matter of survival, not policy.
Falling objects are the second category. Anything above head height that can be knocked, dropped or blown. Toeboards on scaffold platforms, tethers on tools used at height, hard hats on every head below, and nobody working directly under somebody else if it can be avoided.
Third, the things that swing and roll. Suspended loads, a load being landed, material stacked and not banded, pipe on a rack, a load shifting on a trailer. Never stand under or in line with a suspended load, and never put yourself between a load and a fixed object.
And if the job touches a public road, that is a work zone. Cones, signs, a taper, flaggers who are trained, and a barrier if the speed and volume call for it. Drivers do not slow down because they see people. They slow down because the zone tells them to.
Point at these before anybody starts
A talk delivered in a trailer is a meeting. Stand where the work is and put a hand on each of these.
- Where vehicles and equipment travel and turn on this site today
- The blind zone behind the biggest vehicle here, paced out in front of everybody
- Who is spotting, and what the hand signals are
- High visibility clothing on everybody in the vehicle area
- Anything overhead: work above, stacked material, loads, unbanded bundles
- The public road side: cones, signs, taper and who is flagging
The rules that apply
- No vehicle backs up in a work area without a functioning reverse alarm and, where anybody is on foot, a spotter.
- The spotter stands where the driver can see them, never behind the vehicle, and the vehicle stops the moment eye contact is lost.
- High visibility clothing for everybody working around moving vehicles or near public traffic.
- Never stand under or in line with a suspended load, and never between a load and a fixed object.
- Tether tools used at height, use toeboards or debris netting, and keep people out from under overhead work.
- Work zones on public roads get proper signs, tapers and trained flaggers, not a cone and a wave.
Ask the crew
Three questions, answered out loud by name. This is the part that tells you whether anybody was listening.
- Who is spotting for the delivery today, and where are they standing?
- Is anybody working directly under somebody else on this job right now?
- Which vehicle here has the worst blind spot, and who has been walking through it?
Close with this
Be seen, stay out of the swing and the blind zone, and nothing backs up on this site without somebody watching.
A talk nobody signed for is a talk that, as far as anybody can later prove, never happened. Use the free toolbox meeting sign in sheet in PDF, Word or Excel, or print the PDF above, which already has the signature lines on it.
Questions people ask
Is a backup alarm enough, or do I need a spotter?
OSHA requires a reverse signal alarm audible above the surrounding noise, or an observer signaling that it is safe to back. On a noisy site with people on foot, a spotter is the practical answer because alarms stop registering as a warning within an hour.
What are the Focus Four hazards?
Falls, struck by object, caught in or between, and electrocution. OSHA groups them because together they account for the large majority of construction fatalities, and struck by is consistently the second largest of the four.
Where should a spotter stand?
Where the driver can see them continuously in a mirror, off to the side of the path of travel, never directly behind the vehicle. Both driver and spotter agree in advance that the vehicle stops the instant the spotter is out of sight.
More toolbox talks
TOOLBOX TALK: STRUCK BY AND WORK ZONES
Attendance
Everybody who was present signs, including subcontractors and anybody visiting the site.