Motorized vehicle operators of forklifts, tractors and backhoes urged to buckle up
"Buckle up and stay alive — because you're not the only one along for the ride!" This is the message WorkSafeNB is promoting in a new campaign targeting workers who operate motorized vehicles such as forklifts, tractors and backhoes. The campaign launched Nov. 15 with radio ads and is supplemented with materials such as a hazard alert, poster and decals.
Since 2005, three workers have died because they were not wearing their seatbelts and several near-misses and serious injuries have occurred, according to WorkSafeNB. The campaign is intended to remind both workers and employers that seatbelts must be worn not only in cars and trucks, but in heavy equipment and other motorized vehicles, and that the law will be enforced.
Many workers who wear seatbelts in their personal vehicles do not wear them in the powered mobile equipment they use at work, said Richard Blais, chief compliance officer with WorkSafeNB. The motorized vehicles are equipped with two different types of roll over protective structures (ROPS) — those with a cab and those without, he explains.
"We don't know why they don't wear their seatbelts — whether they feel these vehicles go too slow to pose a risk or that they believe the ROPS will keep them safe. But speed isn't a factor. Collisions at low speeds can result in injuries, and in vehicles with ROPS, the deaths are occurring when drivers are ejected and the machine rolls over on top of them. And in one instance, a worker in a vehicle with a cab was ejected through the cab's open door."
WorkSafeNB is hoping to change the culture around powered mobile equipment. They want to make operators aware of the risks of not wearing a seatbelt, not only from being ejected outside the vehicle but also to minimize the risk of injury inside an enclosed cab.
Health and safety officers will ensure not only that seatbelts are being used, but that seatbelts are present and in proper working condition. Violations may result in written orders, fines and stop-work orders.
