An analysis of fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites, 2003–2010

The annual number of occupational road construction site deaths garners much attention among policymakers, safety professionals, and others. From 2003 to 2010, more than 7,000 deaths were reported at road construction sites.¹ Over the same period, 962 workers died from injuries incurred at a road construction site.² (See tables 1 and 2.) Even as overall fatal workplace injuries decreased, fatal workplace injuries at road construction sites remained relatively constant.

Previous analyses have focused on a general overview of fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites and on specific incidents that led to those injuries.³ This analysis will separate these deaths into fatalities incurred by those who were working at the road construction site and fatalities incurred by those who were simply passing through the road construction site. The analysis includes information that is available only from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) case narratives, which will be used to distinguish between these two groups of workers, each of which faces decidedly different hazards.⁴

Background

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), published and maintained by the Federal Highway Administration, “defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all public streets, highways, bikeways, and private roads open to public traffic.”⁵

Section 6C.02, “Temporary traffic control zones,” defines a work zone as

an area of a highway with construction, maintenance, or utility work activities. A work zone is typically marked by signs, channelizing devices, barriers, pavement markings, and/or work vehicles. It extends from the first warning sign or high-intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights on a vehicle to the END ROAD WORK sign or the last TTC [temporary traffic control] device.⁶

Sections 5G (“Temporary traffic control zones”) and 6 (“Temporary traffic control”) outline many aspects of setting up and maintaining road construction sites, including signage, channeling devices, flaggers, and worker safety. In particular, section 6D.03, “Worker safety consideration,” outlines five parameters for improving worker safety:

1. Training—all workers should be trained on how to work next to motor vehicle traffic in a way that minimizes their vulnerability. Workers having specific TTC responsibilities should be trained in TTC techniques, device usage, and placement.
2. Temporary Traffic Barriers—temporary traffic barriers should be placed along the work space depending on factors such as lateral clearance of workers from adjacent traffic, speed of traffic, duration and type of operations, time of day, and volume of traffic.
3. Speed Reduction—reducing the speed of vehicular traffic, mainly through regulatory speed zoning, funneling, lane reduction, or the use of uniformed law enforcement officers or flaggers, should be considered.
4. Activity Area—planning the internal work activity area to minimize backing-up maneuvers of construction vehicles should be considered to minimize the exposure to risk.
5. Worker Safety Planning—a trained person designated by the employer should conduct a basic hazard assessment for the worksite and job classifications required in the activity area. This safety professional should determine whether engineering, administrative, or personal protection measures should be implemented. This plan should be in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as amended, “General Duty Clause” Section 5(a)(1) - Public Law 91-596, 84 Stat. 1590, December 29, 1970, as amended, and with the requirement to assess worker risk exposures for each job site and job classification, as per 29 CFR 1926.20 (b)(2) of “Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations, General Safety and Health Provisions” (see Section 1A.11).⁷

As alluded to in parameter E, different safety organizations have input into worker safety at road construction sites. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration maintains a webpage devoted to safety at road construction sites,⁸ and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health maintains a webpage with numerous data tables and safety analyses related to work zones.⁹ Several private institutions are involved in worker safety at road construction sites as well, chief among them the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.¹⁰

Since 1995, the CFOI has been able to identify fatal occupational injuries of all types that occur at a road construction site through classification of the location of the fatal incident. The CFOI uses multiple source documents to identify and detail all fatal injuries incurred on the job in the United States and is generally considered to be the most complete source of fatal occupational injury data in the nation.¹¹

Passing through

Of the 962 fatal occupational injuries incurred at road construction sites from 2003 to 2010, 122 (13 percent) were incurred by workers passing through the site rather than working at it. Approximately 37 percent occurred between 10:00 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. Truck drivers accounted for the vast majority of these incidents: 83 (68 percent). About 82 percent of the truck driver incidents involved a tractor-trailer.¹²

Almost 70 percent of passing-through incidents were collisions involving either vehicles or mobile equipment going in the same direction or a vehicle or mobile equipment striking a stopped vehicle or mobile equipment. While 35 percent of all highway collisions involving vehicles or mobile equipment were attributable to these events from 2003 to 2010, they accounted for 89 percent of highway collisions between vehicles or mobile equipment at road construction sites. Twenty-nine deaths resulted from crashes that involved three or more vehicles or pieces of mobile equipment.

While accounting for 15 percent of all fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites, Illinois, Tennessee, Indiana, and Arkansas accounted for 41 percent of fatal occupational injuries to truck drivers passing through road construction sites. (See table 3.)

Working onsite

Approximately seven out of every eight workers who incurred a fatal occupational injury at a road construction site were working at the site at the time. The largest single event that led to fatal occupational injuries for these workers was being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment. In the 8-year period from 2003 to 2010, 442 workers (53 percent) were killed at the site after being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment.

Workers are roughly as likely to be struck by construction- or maintenance-related equipment (dump trucks, bulldozers, graders, etc.) as by cars, vans, tractor-trailers, buses, and motorcycles. Workers were fatally struck 152 times by construction- or maintenance-related equipment and 153 times by the other vehicles.¹³

Vehicles or mobile equipment that was backing up posed a particular hazard. Of the 143 cases in which a worker was fatally struck by a backing vehicle or mobile equipment, 84 involved a dump truck striking the worker. (See table 4.) This statistic is particularly notable because section 6D.03, subpart D, of the MUTCD specifically identifies limiting backing-up maneuvers as a factor in minimizing worker risk.

Back-up alarms were noted in 39 cases in which the worker was struck by a backing vehicle or mobile equipment. Twenty-five workers were struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment with a functioning back-up alarm; in 17 cases, the vehicle was a dump truck. Of the 14 workers who were struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment without a back-up alarm or with a nonfunctioning back-up alarm, 11 were struck by a dump truck.

Workers were flagging or performing other traffic control duties in 92 cases. Of these workers, 20 were noted as wearing reflective or brightly colored clothing, such as vests, to increase visibility. Only 32 of the workers were employed as flaggers; the other 60 worked in other occupations, such as construction laborers (23), highway maintenance workers (9), and operating engineers (7).

Sixteen workers were killed by a drunk driver. Six of these cases occurred on a Friday or Saturday, and five of the six occurred in the early morning hours.

Transportation incidents other than a worker struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment accounted for 128 deaths. (See table 5.)

Other notable incidents having to do with transportation-related deaths incurred by workers who were working at a road construction site include the following:

• Five workers were killed when the bucket truck they were in was struck by another vehicle. In each case, the worker fell from the bucket truck.
• Five workers were killed when they fell from a truck as they were setting up or removing traffic control devices such as signs and cones.
• Three workers were killed when the mobile equipment being used by the worker was struck by a train.

In 51 cases, a worker at a road construction site was fatally injured after being struck by a falling object. Workers were struck by a tree seven times; by structural metal materials six times; and by pipes, ducts, and tubing four times. In nine cases, the worker was struck by a falling object that fell from or was put in motion by a crane. In six cases, an object fell from or was put in motion by a backhoe.

Twenty-one workers were killed when a vehicle or mobile equipment that was not in normal operation struck them.¹⁴ In nine cases, the vehicle or mobile equipment rolled or slid down a decline. Trench collapses were the cause of 20 worker deaths at road construction sites from 2003 to 2010.

Falls to lower level accounted for 45 deaths among workers at road construction sites. In 8 cases, it was noted that the worker was not wearing or had removed fall protection equipment. In 6 other cases, the worker was employing fall protection equipment but failed to tie off to a safety line. Of the 14 cases in which fall protection was either not in place or not correctly used, all occurred at bridge or overpass construction sites.

Almost three-quarters (37) of the 45 fatal falls involved workers at a bridge or overpass construction site. In 35 cases, the height of fall was noted; the median height from which a worker fell was 39 feet.

A total of 39 workers died from contact with electric current while working at a road construction site. Most (35) of these deaths involved contact with overhead power lines. In 26 of the cases involving contact with power lines, the worker contacted the lines indirectly; that is, another object became electrified when it came in contact with the power lines and subsequently electrocuted the worker. (See table 6.)

SEVERAL DIFFERENT ELEMENTS outlined in the MUTCD correspond closely to the most frequent fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites. The category “Workers being struck by construction equipment” is a hazard stressed in section 6D.03: “TTC zones present temporary and constantly changing conditions that are unexpected by the road user. This creates an even higher degree of vulnerability for workers on or near the roadway.”¹⁵ The large number of collisions involving vehicles or mobile equipment in which one vehicle is stopped indicates that particular attention should be given to sections 6C.04, “Advance warning area,” and 6C.05, “Transition area,” which outline the procedures for alerting drivers approaching the road construction site. Fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites will continue to be a focus of safety organizations in outreach to workers and drivers alike.