The number of ways workers can be seriously injured or killed by struck-by and caught-between (SBCB) events are too numerous to list. This can make tackling the problem of preventing SBCB seem overwhelming. But, it doesn’t have to be if you take a systematic approach.

What are the hazards?

There are four main categories of SBCB hazards.

1. Flying objects
2. Falling objects
3. Swinging/moving objects
4. Rolling objects

Here are some specific SBCB hazards to help prime your brain:

• Flying objects
  • Working with powder-actuated tools.
  • Working with compressed air.
  • No screen guard on equipment or poor or incomplete screening to guard against objects flying off the equipment.
• Falling objects
  • Tools or loose parts left on window ledges, shelves, cranes, or working platforms.
  • Construction of concrete walls.
  • Weak overhead supports or poor stacking of materials.
  • Disturbed/excavated soil that has not been properly shored.
  • Debris or spoil piles too close to excavations or in areas where workers are present. They can shift or collapse without warning.
  • Stacked or stored materials – or during the process of stacking materials for moving or storing.
• Swinging/moving objects
  • Crane booms, equipment implements, truck beds.
  • Lifted loads and materials.
  • Use of a wrecking ball.
  • Robotic equipment.
• Rolling objects
  • Heavy equipment or vehicle traffic near open excavations.
  • Equipment operating or parked on slopes.
  • Equipment that is not secured – brakes not set, left in gear, wheels not chocked.

How do you identify SBCB hazards at your site?

Start by looking at the SBCB hazards for the general work area and common jobs. These can be easy to identify and quickly knock out.

• Work zones
• High traffic areas – i.e. warehouses, distribution centers, construction sites
• Trenches and excavations
• Machine areas
• Loading and unloading materials

You’ll also want to use historical data to guide you. For example, construction workers are most often struck by heavy equipment and vehicles, like trucks and cranes. Landscape workers must watch out trees or tree limbs falling – unexpectedly, in the wrong direction, and even as planned. And bent limbs can shoot back and strike a worker with enough force to blind or kill.

Next, have a procedure for evaluating the hazards of less-frequent activities, special projects, and one-time tasks.  Here are a few examples:

• Disaster relief and cleanup
• Annual maintenance
• Installation of equipment

Don’t forget to get input from your workers.

• What hazards have they come across?
• What were their “oh $#!+” moments when they almost got hit by a flying object or came a little too close to be backed-over by a piece equipment.

How to be a better supervisor

Once you’ve got a handle on the hazards you can start tackling how to remove them, reduce them, and in some cases prevent them completely. This can be done by following safe work practices from a supervisor’s perspective. We will cover safe work practices for employees in another article.

Supervisor Safe Work Practices

General

• Be familiar with the terrain of the work site – do a walk around of the work area prior to beginning work.
• Restrict access to areas where SBCB hazards are present.
• Provide and enforce the use of hard hats, safety glasses, high-visibility clothing and additional required PPE.
• Inspect, or ensure competent person inspects, excavations on a regular basis and after triggering events such as rain.

Equipment

• Enforce seat belt use and use of rollover protection structures.
• Train and provide spotters for heavy equipment operators.
• Establish and enforce procedures for securing vehicles and equipment – i.e.
  • Wheel chocks in place, controls in neutral, buckets, blades, and beds in down position.
  • Safe distance to keep from excavations.
  • Parking or traveling on sloped paths.

Road work

• Have a traffic control plan for road construction work.
• Mark work zones with barriers, cones, and signs.
• Use flaggers or automated flagger devices.
• Require and enforce the use of high-visibility clothing.
• Have law enforcement present.

Worker Input and Training

Another valuable, and too often overlooked resource you have is worker feedback and the chance to interact with them specifically and meaningfully when it comes to workplace hazards.

• Ask workers to brainstorm a specific list of struck-by hazards in your workplace.
• Ask workers to brainstorm ways to eliminate or lessen those hazards.
• Proactively and actively explain potential hazards and how to avoid them.
  • Share near-miss and incident information.
  • Require pre-shift meetings be done that address potential and known hazards for each day’s job, tasks, etc.
  • Cover general hazards and safe work practices during regular safety meetings and during training.