Spatial awareness is an important skill for every driver and equipment operator in the waste and recycling industry. Knowing the height of your equipment is critical information as overhead hazards such as power lines, tree limbs, and bridges can result in personal injury and property damage when struck.
By Will Flower
Drivers of collection vehicles and equipment operators need to continually scan their surroundings for potential hazards. This includes making sure that there is sufficient clearance around and overhead. The most common overhead hazards to look for include:
- Wires including electrical, telephone and cable TV lines
- Tree limbs and branches
- Signs and marquees
- Awnings and canopies
- Gutters and building overhangs
- Objects connected to buildings such as fire escapes and air conditioning units
- Bridges and overpasses
Driver Precautions
Drivers of front-end loaders need to be careful due to the extension of the vehicle’s arms. A driver may need as much as a 10-foot clearance above the top of a front-end loader to ensure enough room to safely service containers. Roll-off drivers also need to take precautions and pay attention to height clearance when dropping off or retrieving a roll-off container. And, because a roll-off box may be overloaded, material can extend well above the top of the container resulting in the need for extra space above the vehicle. In all cases, drivers must make sure that the arms, tailgates, forks and rails are in the closed position before proceeding on the route.
Collection vehicles and roll-off trucks are equipped with a number of safety devices and alarms to alert the driver of unsafe conditions. A hoist alarm should activate when the rails are up and provide both an audible and visual (flashing warning light) alarm. Alarms should also alert the driver when the tailgate or forks are in the up position. If these alarms are not working, the truck should be placed out of service until the alarms are repaired. No one should ever disable any alarm system on any truck.
Drivers also need to be vigilant for new hazards that can emerge on a route such as the addition of a new power line. Storms and high winds can also cause new hazards as tree limbs sag and power lines droop, creating potential impact hazards. The weight of a load can also change the height of a vehicle because an empty packer truck will be slightly higher than a loaded one. Drivers need to know that just because a truck fit under a bridge when the truck was completely packed does not mean that the truck will fit when empty.
Finally, don’t assume that the heights posted at bridges and overpasses are correct. Repaving or packed snow may have reduced the clearances since the heights were posted.
Hitting an overhead object can result in serious damage to a vehicle and/or the object that has been struck. A collision with an overhead object can also result in an injury to the general public and the driver of the vehicle.
Reduce Your Risks
There are some specific things that managers, supervisors and drivers can do to reduce the risk of colliding with overhead objects:
- Train drivers to be alert for overhead objects and hazards.
- Supervisors should routinely check routes for safety hazards.
- Share information among supervisors and drivers concerning hazards on routes.
- Remind drivers at safety meetings about the height of their vehicles.
- Sales people should inspect possible container locations and look for potential hazards. Such hazards should be noted on the work order to alert the driver.
- Check overhead before backing or driving into an unknown area. Take extra care when backing and check overhead prior to backing into an area. It may not be possible to see tree limbs, wires or overhangs. If drivers can’t get a good look, they should get out of the cab and look for overhead obstructions in order to ensure proper clearance.
- Always check the position of the hoist, arms/forks and tailgate prior to moving a vehicle to be sure they are down.
- At the transfer station or maintenance garage, take extra precautions to make sure that rails on roll-off trucks and tailgates on packer trucks are all the way down before pulling in or out of a building.
- Never assume that just because a truck always fit under a structure that it will this time.
- Drivers of trucks with an automatic tarping mechanism should make sure the arms are properly seated prior to leaving a jobsite.
In the event that a truck comes into contact with overhead wires, the crew needs to take special precautions to remain safe. The driver should immediately notify dispatch and request emergency help from the electrical utility. Drivers and crew should never exit a vehicle that is in contact with wires until an all clear signal is given by a professional electrician or an emergency service worker. Always assume that the wire (power line, telephone or cable) is energized until a trained electrician tells you it’s safe.
The best advice is to always play it safe with overhead hazards. When in doubt, get out of the truck and look. If you’re not sure that you can safely clear a hazard, be safe and take another route. | WA
Next month’s safety tip will review emergency preparedness and planning for the waste and recycling industry.
Will Flower is the Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs at Winters Bros. Waste Systems. Will has 32 years of experience in the area of solid waste management and environmental protection. He has held operational and executive leadership positions at the Director’s Office of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Waste Management, Inc., Republic Services. Inc. and Green Stream Recycling.