If you’re working in concrete pumping, hydrovac excavation, or any other construction gig involving heavy machinery, you’re probably already aware of the importance of toolbox talks. These informal pre-work safety talks are pretty important for going over safety points or concerns with your crew, especially if you’re working with equipment that can pose specific hazards. Pre-work toolbox talks can help ensure everyone on your crew is on the same page, and they go a long way in preventing accidents on the job.
Heavy Equipment Safety Meeting Topics
Of course, finding new and interesting topics for your toolbox talks can always be a challenge. Not only do you need to find relevant topics to discuss with your crew, but you also need to keep things interesting to make sure you’ve got everyone’s attention.
When you and your operators are working with heavy equipment like hydrovac excavators or mobile cranes, finding relevant and engaging heavy equipment safety topics is especially important. Here are a few key areas that all heavy equipment crews should cover in their toolbox talks, as well as a few important points you should always keep in mind to keep everyone safe on the job.
1. Heavy Equipment Lightning Safety
Environmental and weather-related hazards are often overlooked in toolbox talk safety discussions. After all, you and your operators usually have your hands full while dealing with all of the safety requirements of your heavy equipment. It’s pretty easy to overlook outside safety factors. However, weather-related hazards are a major concern for outdoor construction projects, and it's important to keep them in mind when you're planning your daily toolbox talks.
Lightning can be one of the biggest weather-related hazards on your jobsites, especially during the spring and summer months. After all, your crew is usually working outside, surrounded by metal and tall poles. A sudden thunderstorm can spell disaster for even a well-prepared crew.
Here are some key points to bring up when you're discussing lightning safety during your toolbox talk:
- Pay attention to weather forecasts. Though weather forecasts are not 100%, staying aware of the daily forecast for your area means you and your crew know when thunderstorms are more likely, and you can plan accordingly.
- The key to lightning safety is speed. If thunderstorms are likely, don’t start any work that you can’t quickly stop.
- Having a consistent evacuation plan is key. A crew that’s well-prepared and well-drilled on your company’s lightning safety protocol can respond much more quickly — and much more safely — to a sudden storm.
- Every member of your crew should be able to identify lightning hazards and safe areas in the event of a thunderstorm.
- Identify areas that are dangerous during a lightning storm. Rooftops, utility poles, ladders, scaffolding, and other areas near tall metal objects are the most dangerous places to be during a lightning storm.
- Identify safe places to take shelter during a lightning storm. Ideally, fully enclosed and grounded buildings are the best places to seek shelter in during a lightning storm. If one is not close by, your crew can take shelter in hard-topped metal vehicles.
- Follow proper first-aid protocols if someone is struck by lightning. Knowing the appropriate lightning-strike first-aid procedures can help your crew respond quickly if someone is struck by lightning.
2. Heavy Equipment Blind-Spot Safety
Concrete pumps, mobile cranes, hydrovac excavators, and other heavy machines have blind spots, where operators can’t see. These blind spots are a major cause of accidents in the workplace, so any good toolbox talk should include appropriate safety tips for dealing with the blind spots for your particular jobsite’s equipment. When you're discussing blind-spot safety in your daily talks, here are some helpful tips to include:
- Blind-spot safety is a two-way street. Operators of heavy machinery need to be aware of where their blind spots are to reduce the risk of tragic accidents. At the same time, anyone walking by should be aware of blind spots and how to take them into account when coming close to machines.
- Each piece of heavy equipment or machinery on your jobsite has its own specific blind spots. During your daily toolbox briefings, going over each machine’s blind spots is a better way to reduce the risk of accidents than trying to establish general blind-spot areas for all on-site equipment. No two pieces of machinery are exactly the same, and the more workers take into account the different blind spots for all on-site machines, the less likely they are to suffer a tragic accident.
- Workers on the ground should always assume that machine operators can't see them. The best rule of thumb for approaching heavy equipment is to assume that the operator cannot see you, no matter where you are. Even if the operator does see you, you can't assume that they know where you're going, or whether or not you’re going to approach their machine. Too many on-site accidents occur because workers on the ground incorrectly assume that a machine’s operator sees them or knows where they're going relative to the machine.
- Workers on the ground should always establish a clear line of communication with machine operators before approaching. Clear communication between machine operators and the crew members on the ground is key to reducing the risk of accidents. If you have to pass through a machine’s blind spot, clearly communicating with the operator where you are and where you're going can prevent an accident.
3. Pedestrian Safety Around Heavy Equipment
For your work crew, walking past heavy equipment may be unavoidable on the job. But depending on where your jobsite is located, you may also have pedestrians walking too close to potentially dangerous pieces of equipment. If you might have pedestrians walking by your site, it’s a good idea to discuss the best pedestrian safety tips for your crew and operators during your daily toolbox talk:
- Use well-marked physical barriers around danger zones. The easiest way to keep pedestrians safe around your worksite is to place highly visible physical barriers around any dangerous locations to guide all pedestrians on where to go.
- If necessary, have a designated worker to guide pedestrian traffic. If you cannot place physical barriers near dangerous areas, a designated worker can guide pedestrian traffic directly.
- Have adequate lighting for pedestrians. Pedestrians are less familiar with your work site than you and your crew are, so adequate lighting is important to help them make their way around safely. Lighting is especially important if you are working at night or in cloudy conditions where pedestrians may have a harder time seeing where they are going.
- Mark any necessary alternate route around dangerous areas. If you need to close down public walking routes, make sure you establish an alternate path around your worksite for all pedestrians. During your toolbox talk, everyone in your crew should know the parameters of this route and the best ways to mark them to keep them visible.
- Make sure any alternate route is accessible to all pedestrians. Some pedestrians passing by your worksite may have certain handicaps or disabilities that may make it harder for them to access alternative routes. Make sure any alternate walking route is as accessible for those with disabilities as the original route.
4. Working Around Heavy Equipment Safely
No one, no matter how tough they think they are, can beat heavy construction equipment one on one. So everyone, from operators to laborers, should know the best practices for avoiding contact between workers and machines. A few important tips that can help with your heavy equipment toolbox talks are:
- Appropriate, high-visibility clothing can help improve the visibility between machine operators and the workers on the ground.
- Never catch a ride on the side of heavy equipment vehicles to move from one part of the worksite to another. As tempting as it might seem, it's not worth the risk.
- Anyone operating or riding in heavy equipment vehicles should always wear designated seat belts or safety harnesses.
- Clear communication between operators and workers on the ground is essential for avoiding accidents. If possible, workers should use two-way radios or other communication devices to directly communicate with machine operators.
- If these are unavailable, your crew can use designated hand signals for communication between operators and anyone on the ground.
5. General Operator Safety
Operators of heavy machinery and equipment have their own set of important safety protocols to consider. These operator safety tips are good topics for toolbox talks, even if you’re not discussing them with actual machine operators. If everyone on your crew, operators and ground workers alike, knows the best operator safety practices, everyone will be on the same page to avoid accidents:
- Be aware of blind spots specific to the equipment you're using.
- Keep visual contact with ground spotters who are directing pedestrian traffic. If they lose sight of the spotter, they should stop further operations until they re-establish visual contact.
- Overloading vehicles can increase the risk of accidents, so it’s a good idea for operators to be aware of their equipment’s specific load limit.
- Always turn off the vehicle and engage the brakes when it's not in use.
- The three-points-of-contact rule between body and machine is always important when someone is getting on or off a heavy equipment vehicle.
Getting safety right is a never-ending challenge that requires daily commitment and focus from everyone on the job site. In addition to your toolbox talk program, consider making digital safety forms part of your regular safety protocol. Giving your operators a way to fill out and submit their daily vehicle inspections and jobsite safety analysis forms right from the job site can help close the loop between a helpful toolbox talk and actual safety practices on the job. Field and job management software like RapidWorks is designed to make executing jobs safely and accurately easier than ever. Schedule your free demo to learn more today!