Work safely with heavy equipment

Operating heavy machinery can create significant hazards on a construction site. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health advocates the following practices when working with heavy machinery:

• General repairs must not be made to powered equipment until workers are protected from the movement of the equipment and its parts. Workers must comply with lockout/tagout when applicable.
• Engines must be stopped during refueling.
• All vehicles must be checked for proper operation at the beginning of every shift.
• Whenever mobile equipment enters a public thoroughfare, traffic controls must be used.
•  Flaggers – wearing high-visibility safety gear – should be at all locations where barricades and warning signs cannot control moving traffic.

Jobsite vehicles must be equipped with the following:

• Operable service, emergency and parking brakes
• Windshield wipers and defogging equipment as required
• Safety belts if the vehicle has rollover protection structures
• Fenders or mud flaps
• Adequate seating if vehicles are used to transport workers
• Lights for nighttime operation
• A manually operated warning device
• Every vehicle with a body capacity of 2.5 cubic yards or more, or those operating where rear vision is blocked, must be equipped with an automatic back-up alarm.
• Haulage vehicles must be under operator control and kept in gear when descending grades.
• Exposed scissor points on front-end loaders must be guarded.
• Vehicles loaded by cranes, shovels, loaders or similar devices must have an adequate cab or canopy for operator protection.
• Dust control is required when dust seriously limits visibility. Operators in dusty work environments must use adequate respiratory protection. 
• Loads on vehicles must be secured against displacement.