A 59-year-old construction worker was killed last November after an unoccupied bulldozer on a jobsite in Waynesboro, Virginia, ran him over. A new OSHA report is shedding light on the incident.
According to the report, at around 8 a.m. on November 6, 2023, an employee of Roanoke, Virginia-based Branch Civil exited a dozer to tell a dump truck driver where to place a load of stone. The employee failed to engage the safety lever before exiting the cab, causing the dozer to roll forward.
In an attempt to stop the machine, the operator reached back into the cab. The dozer stopped moving forward and “immediately began to move in reverse at a rapid pace,” the report says.
As a result, the operator was knocked onto the track and dragged to the rear of the machine, where he was run over. He died of multiple blunt force injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The dozer hit a church and a house before coming to a stop.
Safe Parking and Exiting of a Machine
Operators should always engage the parking brake to ensure that heavy machinery will not move or roll without being controlled. According to Hard Hat Training Company, this is especially critical if the machine is in neutral.
Operators should fully turn off equipment before exiting the machine and verify that it is parked in a stable position.
