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U. S. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine
Office of Science and Technology Assessment |
Compactor Rollover Hazard
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Safety and Health Information Bulletin |
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SHIB 09-29-2008 |
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This Safety and Health Information Bulletin is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. The Bulletin is advisory in nature,
informational in content, and is intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires
employers to comply with safety and health standards promulgated by OSHA or by a state with an OSHA-approved state plan. In addition,
pursuant to Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause of the Act, employers must provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to
cause death or serious physical harm. Employers can be cited for violating the General Duty Clause if there is a recognized hazard and they do not take
reasonable steps to prevent or abate the hazard. However, failure to implement any recommendations in this SHIB is not, in
itself, a violation of the General Duty Clause. Citations can only be based on standards, regulations, and the General Duty Clause. |
Preface
Between 2000 and 2006, OSHA investigated over 50 rollover incidents that involved a variety of roller/compactor makes and models. Of the rollover accidents investigated:
- 5 involved roller/compactors with rollover protective structures (ROPS) where operators used the seatbelts provided. None of these accidents resulted in a fatality.
- 19 involved roller/compactors with ROPS, but seatbelts were not used. In some cases, seatbelts were not provided. In other cases, the seatbelts provided were not used by the operators. Fourteen of these
accidents resulted in fatalities. In a number of these cases, the operator was either ejected or jumped from the equipment, and was pinned under or crushed by the ROPS.
- 1 case involved a pneumatic rubber-tired roller/compactor where the ROPS and seatbelt had been removed prior to the accident. The operator involved was fatally injured in the accident. This accident is described below (Accident #1)
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- 6 cases involved pneumatic rubber-tired roller/compactors without ROPS. In all of these cases, the accident resulted in a fatality. One such accident is described below (Accident #2).
The fatal accidents in the last two bullets above are the focus of this Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB), and are described in detail below.
Purpose
The purpose of this Safety and Health Information
Bulletin is to:
- to remind employers and employees of the rollover hazard when operating roller/compactor machines, and that ROPS and seatbelts can reduce the risk;
- to alert users and operators that, when they operate roller/compactors on uneven surfaces, the likelihood of a rollover is significantly increased; and
- to encourage employers to carefully evaluate roadways and work surfaces where roller/compactors are operated for dangerous inclines/declines.
Background
The OSHA Englewood Area Office
investigated two fatal accidents in 2005
in southern Colorado involving the
rollover of pneumatic rubber-tired
roller/compactors. The machines
involved in these fatal accidents were
produced by different manufacturers, but
they were very similar in nature. Each
machine had pneumatic rubber tires and
a low center of gravity. These machines
are often used in the compacting process
during road construction and paving
operations.
In both cases, OSHA concluded that if
the machine had been equipped with a
ROPS system, and if the operator had
been wearing a seatbelt, the likelihood of
the operator’s survival would have
increased significantly.
Roller/Compactor Involved in Accident #1 (ROPS and seatbelts were removed prior to the accident)
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Roller/Compactor Involved in Accident #2 (ROPS was not provided and the operator was not wearing a seatbelt)
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Pneumatic Tired Roller/Compactor Figure 1
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Self-Propelled Pneumatic Tired Roller/Compactor Figure 2
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Accident Description
- Accident #1 – In May 2005, an
employee was fatally injured while
operating a pneumatic rubber- tired
roller/compactor on a roadway
during asphalt compacting. The
roller/compactor ran off the road and
traveled down a 22-degree sloping
embankment. It rolled over 1½
times, coming to a stop on its top.
The operator was thrown from the
machine and was fatally crushed
between the machine and the ground.
Although the roller/compactor was
originally equipped and sold with a
ROPS and a seatbelt, the ROPS and
seatbelt had been removed prior to
the accident.
- Accident #2 – In August 2005, an
employee was operating a pneumatic
rubber-tired roller/compactor on a
gravel road, rolling magnesium
chloride into the gravel. The
roller/compactor ran off the road and
traveled down a 28-degree sloping
embankment. It rolled onto its side
and came to a stop. As the machine
traveled down the embankment, the
operator was thrown from the
machine and fatally crushed. The
roller/compactor was not provided
with a ROPS and the operator was
not wearing a seatbelt.
Other Information
A ROPS is a protective frame that is
mounted on the machine and extends above
the operator’s seat (see Figure 1). In
addition to bearing the weight of the
machine during a rollover event, ROPS are
designed to minimize the likelihood that the
machine will overturn completely, thereby
reducing the possibility that the operator will
be crushed as a result of rollover or upset. A
principle applied in ROPS design is to
restrict the overturn to no more than 90
degrees. [1] A ROPS may be designed with
one, two, or four posts, and it may have a
canopy overhead; the canopy may be
designed as part of the ROPS. Some
machines have a single-post ROPS with a
canopy that extends to the sides which is
designed to absorb the impact of a rollover.
ROPS need to be used in combination with a
seatbelt. As discussed in the Preface,
operators who do not use seatbelts may be
ejected from the machine and then crushed
between the machine and the ground. The
operator can even strike the ROPS as the
operator is thrown from the equipment. A
ROPS only provides protection if the
operator remains in the seat. In some
investigations, OSHA noted that operators
had removed their seatbelts and jumped
from the equipment, negating the protection
offered by a ROPS.
During the investigation of Accidents #1 and
#2, it was determined that ROPS were
available for both machines. In Accident #1,
the ROPS had been removed by the
employer for convenience during a previous
project and had not been replaced. In
Accident #2, the machine had initially been
sold without ROPS, but an aftermarket
ROPS had been developed, tested and was
available.
The Center to Protect Workers Rights
(CPWR), through a cooperative agreement
with the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), evaluated 58
roller/compactor overturn accidents and
summarized the results in a report titled
Compactor Overturns and Rollover
Protective Structures (M. Meyers, April
2004). This report highlighted a number of
hazards associated with rollovers, including:
- Working near the edge of a road
or an embankment was the most
hazardous situation in the 58
rollover accidents studied. The
second most significant factors
were steep slopes and roadway
curves, where problems with
gear-shifting and brakes resulted
in runaways.
- Compacting soil appeared to be
more hazardous than other
operations. Hazards included the
soil edges and soft soil pockets
that could drop under the weight
of the unit.
- Loading and unloading
roller/compactors onto and off of
trailers posed a potential overturn
hazard. Hazards were caused by
skidding on the ramps, using
wood blocks or planks as ramps,
or loading/unloading a machine
that was too narrow to span both
units of the ramp.
Conclusions
During the course of OSHA’s investigations,
it was determined that if the machines
involved in these accidents had been
equipped with ROPS, and if the operators
had been wearing seatbelts, the likelihood of
the operator’s survival would have increased
significantly.
OSHA Requirements
While OSHA does not have a standard
requiring employers to use ROPS or
seatbelts for this type of roller/compactor
equipment, it is important for employers to
understand that under the General Duty
Clause of the OSH Act (section 5(a)(1) of
the Act), employers must provide their
employees with a workplace that is free
from recognized hazards likely to cause
death or serious physical harm. It is
OSHA’s position that the hazard of
equipment rollover is a “recognized hazard”
within the meaning of the General Duty
Clause of the OSH Act. [3, 4]
In cases where the employer chooses to
operate these types of machines in areas
where the potential for rollover is present
(e.g., loading or unloading, operating on
slopes or near slope edges, etc.) and the
equipment is not equipped with ROPS and
seatbelts, a General Duty Clause violation
may exist.
In addition, OSHA’s Construction Standard
"General safety and health provisions,"
29
CFR 1926.20(b)(4), states "the employer
shall permit only those employees qualified
by training or experience to operate
equipment and machinery." Section
1926.21(b)(2), “Safety training and
education,” states further that “the employer
shall instruct each employee in the
recognition and avoidance of unsafe
conditions….”
Therefore, employers performing
construction work are required to ensure that
roller/compactor operators are trained to use
the equipment properly and to understand
how to recognize those situations and
conditions that pose a rollover hazard. For
example, operators need to understand that:
- soft edges can cause one side of the
equipment to sink and therefore may
pose a risk of rollover;
- turning away from a slope with
articulated steering can destabilize
the compactor;
- improperly inflated tires can
destabilize roller/compactors; and
- rain or wet conditions can pose a
hazard during unloading and can
increase the possibility of rollovers
near embankments as soil conditions
become unstable.
Although OSHA does not have a standard
that requires ROPS for roller/compactor
equipment, OSHA does have construction
and agriculture standards that have
requirements for ROPS involving other
types of equipment. Specifically, OSHA’s
Construction Standard
29 CFR 1926.1001
sets minimum performance criteria for ROPS for certain scrapers, loaders, dozers
and graders, and crawler tractors, and
29
CFR 1926.1002 sets requirements for ROPS
frames for the protection of operators of
wheel-type agricultural and industrial
tractors used in construction. OSHA’s
Agriculture Standard
29 CFR
1928.51(b)(2)(i)(A) requires ROPS for
tractors used in agricultural operations, as
well as seatbelts where ROPS are required.
29 CFR 1928.52 and
1928.53 establishes
test and performance requirements for
protective frames and protective enclosures
designed for wheel-type agricultural tractors
to minimize the frequency and severity of
operator injury. These standards are beyond
the scope of this SHIB, but noted for
informational purposes. However, to ensure
that ROPS used by the construction industry
will protect roller/compactor operators,
OSHA recommends that construction
employers use ROPS on these machines that
comply with the testing requirements
specified by these standards.
Recommendations
Employers using roller/compactors should
evaluate their worksites and operations to
identify potential rollover hazards.
Although the conditions that cause such
hazards may not be present at one
construction site, they may be present at the
next one. Therefore, OSHA recommends
that as a matter of practice in all cases,
employers should institute the following
measures:
- equip roller/compactors with a ROPS
and seatbelt;
- instruct operators to always wear
seatbelts whenever operating the
equipment;
- consider using a warning system
such as barricades, hand or
mechanical signals, or stop logs
when the equipment is operated near
sloped edges, such as an
embankment and roadway edges, to
alert equipment operators of their
proximity to the hazard; and
- conduct pre-shift inspections to make
sure all equipment systems,
including the braking system, the
tires, and operator controls, are in
proper working condition.
References
- CPWR.
Compactor Overturns and
Rollover Protective Structures, 2004.
Available online at:
- NIOSH.
Preventing Injuries When
Working with Ride-on
Roller/Compactors, 2005.
- OSHA.
ROPS/seatbelts for roller
compactors; lockout/tagout in
construction. Letter of Interpretation
dated March 16, 1998 and addressed to
Mr. Brian McQuade.
- OSHA.
Guidelines for ROPS on
pneumatic compactors and "skid
steer" equipment. Letter of
Interpretation dated March 16, 1998
and addressed to Mr. Robert S.
Beisel.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.
Assistant Secretary
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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