Incident alert
ACTIVITY:
PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING
SUB ACTIVITY:
ASPHALT & COATED STONE
DATE ISSUED:
13/03/2015 11:54:14
TITLE
Operative Struck by Roller
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
United Kingdom
ACCIDENT / INCIDENT DETAILS
During overnight road surfacing works, a surfacing operative was struck by a large tandem grit box roller, sustaining severe bruising to his left kidney and spleen resulting in a 13 day Lost Time Injury.
The operative had returned alone to ‘spot-up’ an area of the laid mat in a junction whilst the paver continued to pave the main carriageway approximately 20m away. The operative stated that he made eye contact with the roller driver as he entered the area being rolled, prior to undertaking the task.
Whilst concentrating (head down) on spotting up the front right of the roller struck the operative a glancing blow. Fortunately the operative was able to remove himself from the area to a place of safety.
•The roller driver stated that at no time did he see the operative return to the area being rolled.
•The roller driver’s visibility was severely impaired due to excessive amounts of steam generated during the rolling operation. This was due to the low temperatures and high humidity at the time.
•The existing front headlamps on the roller were not isolated when the grit box attachment was fitted to the roller. This resulted in lighting glare reflecting back into the roller cab further impairing the drivers vision.
•The operative was under the misapprehension that the roller driver was aware of his presence.
•The operative and the roller driver failed to adequately communicate with each other which resulted in neither of them knowing what the other was doing.
ACCIDENT / INCIDENT IMAGES
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Front Lights Not Isolated
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LEARNING POINTS / ACTIONS TAKEN
The site supervisor and/or foreman shall:
•Ensure that the Site Specific Risk Assessment (SSRA) and Job Briefing Sheet (JBS) adequately address weather and visibility issues during laying operations prior to work commencing.
•Ensure that the SSRA and JBS is revised and adequate control measures implemented where the weather unexpectedly deteriorates during the shift.
•Consider the cancellation / suspension of work (in discussion with client) where adverse weather is forecast and there is the potential for excessive steam to be generated, which may cause severe visibility restrictions for site personnel and/or the travelling public.
•Ensure all similar grit box rollers (Hamm HD90) are inspected to ensure that the front roller lights are either isolated or covered when the grit box attachment is fitted.
•Where site personnel need to walk/work in areas where plant and vehicles are operating e.g street masters, rollers, sweepers, spray tankers, planers etc they MUST STOP the plant/vehicles, talk to the driver and explain exactly what they are going to do. The plant/vehicle MUST NOT MOVE until they are verbally instructed to do so.
The Senior S&H Manager and Operations team shall seek to source a suitable ‘proximity early warning system’ which alert drivers and/or site personnel (on foot) of each other’s presence.
LEARNING POINTS / ACTIONS IMAGES
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Steam reducing visibilty
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