Distracted Walking: A Major Working Safety Concern

Distracted driving is a well-established problem, so much so that many states have bans in place when it comes to using technology while driving, but the problem of “distracted walking” is a relatively new hazard. Sure, people have been walking out in front of moving objects or stepping off cliffs since the beginning of time, but a new piece of daily-use equipment seems to be increasing the problem – smartphones and tablets. While we might laugh at a woman who falls into a fountain while texting or someone who walks into a glass wall while watching a you-tube video on his phone, the problem with distracted walking is a very serious one.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed and another 76,000 injured in traffic accidents in 2012. While it is not clear how many of these were directly attributed to distracted walking, pedestrian fatalities are getting worse each year, perhaps due to the use of smart phones and other devices.

Common risks associated with distracted walking include: trips, sprains, strains, fractures, cuts, bruises, broken bones, concussions, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, death, and injuries to someone else. People who text while walking are 60% more likely to be injured or cause injury than non-texters. Scientist call the phenomenon, “inattentive blindness”; they state the human brain can only adequately focus on one task at a time. So, when you are texting or talking on the phone and trying to walk, you cannot give full attention to both tasks. Today we hear people brag about being able to “multi-task”, but our brains cannot efficiently provide adequate attention to more than one task at a time.

It’s not just texting while walking that is the problem. Talking, checking email, using social media, even playing games on your phone/tablet all contribute to the problem of distracted pedestrians. After years of decline, pedestrian deaths have started to increase since 2009, and while there is no reliable data directly related to cell phone use, experts speculate the increase is due in part to distracted users of cell phones while walking.

The solution to distracted walking is a simple one: Don’t use your cell phone or engage in other distracting activities while walking. Focus solely on the task at hand – getting from point A to point B in one piece, and worry about checking your phone when you get there.

Other safety concerns for pedestrians:

• Traffic signals – Obey traffic signals (whether you are driving or a pedestrian). If the traffic signal is not in your favor do not begin crossing, and look before you begin to cross.

• Cross streets at appropriate places -  Jaywalking or crossing the road where there is no crosswalk is a leading cause of pedestrian injury. The NHTSA has found that crossing streets improperly accounts for approximately 30% of pedestrian fatalities.

• Visibility – It can be difficult for drivers to see those walking at night or in low-light or inclement weather. Wear light colored clothing, walk in well lit areas or carry a flashlight, and wear reflective clothing for added visibility.

Take the time to inform employees of the hazards of distracted walking, share with them the statistics, and create policies to reduce the potential for injuries due to distracted walking incidents. It is everybody’s responsibility to help create a safe work environment.

Workplace Distraction Hazards

In a perfect world, employees don’t worry about breaking their arm, falling off scaffolds, or catching a lung disease. In a perfect world, they would be provided with excellent training, not just once, but regularly. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to worry about hazards at all. Besides being comfortable and self-cleaning, PPE could be worn in a matter of seconds and would have built-in chemical and radiation detectors. In a perfect world, when a vehicle was about to hit an employee or fire threatened to incinerate them, a bubble, from their PPE, would suddenly encompass them and keep them safe. Being resistant to fire, chemical toxins, harmful gases, and all the negative vibes of the world, the bubble would be the ultimate life and limb saver for the employee on the job. Maybe that’s taking it a bit too far, but you get the idea. All employees, whether they know it or not, wish for a job where they are provided with adequate training and PPE to keep them safe from the hazards in their workplace.

But even in a perfect world, any appropriate training or top-of-the-line PPE would be useless if a worker couldn’t manage one of the most threatening factors on the job: Distractions. Statistics show that distractions are a major contributor to many workplace injuries and fatalities.

Let’s briefly look at the 5 most common distractions on the job:

1. Mental distractions and inattention – Have you ever replayed in your mind unpleasant scenes from home while operating equipment? Or perhaps fantasized about how events will play out concerning your upcoming big weekend plans? Maybe you’ve chatted with a coworker while performing a hazardous task. Mental distractions often lead to inattention, and that could lead to you or a coworker being injured or killed. Whether you are worrying, daydreaming, or just chatting, mental distractions can be just as dangerous as working with electricity or highly flammable materials. Avoid falling into mental distractions. Stay focused on your work.

2. Poor housekeeping – Visual clutter can easily be translated into mental clutter. Frustration from not being able to find something due to a messy workplace can lead to overlooking a safety issue or make you angry enough to resort to aggression or violence. Keep work areas clean and clear of clutter, organize equipment and materials, and keep them in their place. Remember, too, that poor housekeeping says a lot about your attitude towards safety, quality, and productivity. Messy workspace also may give others the impression you are slothful.

3. Machinery – Make sure you perform work at a safe distance from machines, heavy equipment, and electrical hazards. They can impede your maneuverability, hearing, and vision which could cause a mishap or injury due to entrapment in moving parts or a slip, trip, and fall.

4. Hearing – Wear earplugs or muffs when working around loud machinery or equipment. But always ask your supervisor if it is permissible to listen to music or podcasts with earphones while working. It could be a distraction that could be fatal. No music or story is worth your life.

5. Long Unkempt Hair – Many accidents are caused by somebody getting hair caught in machinery or simply attempting to fix their hair while operating equipment. Loose and flowing hair can get in your face and obstruct vision or become a distracting annoyance causing a worker to perform an unsafe task. Tie long hair back, wear a hat, or get a haircut.

In a perfect world, distractions don’t exist, but since we’re stuck in an imperfect universe, all we can do is our job and do it safely to the best of our ability. We can try to help our coworkers to do the same. While some factors in the workplace can play a role in causing distractions, the fact remains that more workplace hazards spring from unsafe acts than from unsafe conditions.

Verifying and Documenting Excavation Marks

I (William Sheppard) was a Safety professional in heavy civil construction for over 10 years, and in that time, I investigated numerous incidents of breaking functioning underground utilities.  Not once did anyone get hurt or die.  What are the odds of dying from a utility strike, you ask?  The odds of being fatally injured are one in five, for those incidents with an injury.  Those aren’t good odds, so if you have hit a utility four times during your career, do not hit another. 

Under every city and town in the state and, yes, below our lakes and rivers, run utility lines, tunnels and other structures.  If you hit them some can kill you, and all will cost you.  You will encounter hidden hazards that kill the striker quickly: gas, propane and electricity.  In addition, you may also encounter those that may kill others: telephone and communication cables and national defense lines.  Many people are unaware of these hazards.  Some who are aware do not respect the danger of underground utilities. 

Anyone in Oklahoma can dial 811 or use the OKIE811 online service to notify utilities so they can “mark out” their underground facilities. Always remember, you must call for these utilities to get marked, whether you are constructing a new driveway, or driving posts for a new fence, etc. The OKIE811 system is free, it is easy, and it’s the law. 

• You must call regardless of where the excavation is located. Even if it’s on private property, out in the middle of a field, or on a street with no name – “You must Call.” 

• You must call if you are only excavating a few inches or just surface grading. If you move material – “You must Call.” 

Each year, approximately 700,000 underground utilities are struck during excavation work, according to the Common Ground Alliance, a group that provides training and education on underground hazards as well as coordinating the “OKIE811 – Call Before You Dig System.”  If you’re lucky and no one is fatally injured, the cost of one utility strike may result in serious financial losses. Additional costs can be fines levied by the utility that can no longer provide service to its clients. These fees can range around $10,000 per hour for loss of service. If you shut down a hospital or stop work at a factory, you will likely pay for their losses too. 

It has been my professional experience that there are two steps that can help eliminate and reduce excavating hazards - verifying and documenting utility mark out.  Here are some tips to help you, the excavator, work safely and save your municipality money: 

Upon arrival at the worksite, prior to beginning the excavation, an excavator should do the following: 

• Verify that the worksite matches the OKIE811 one-call request and is timely 

• Verify that all facilities have been marked and review the color codes if in doubt 

• Verify all service feeds from buildings and homes near the worksite 

• Check for any visible signs of underground facilities, such as pedestals, risers, meters and new trench lines 

• Check for any facilities that are not members of the one call center and contact someone to get them located 

It is important for excavators and locators to document the location of markings before excavation work begins.  The primary purpose of this best practice is to avoid unnecessary litigation and expensive legal fees for all parties involved.  Additionally, documenting marks is an excellent idea, as marks will be covered by spoils or degraded by weather and construction equipment and there could be, if not caught during the mark-out verification process, mismarked utilities.  In most situations when underground facilities are not properly marked, excavators have no way of knowing where underground utilities are located.  If located markings are adequately documented through the use of photographs, video, or sketches before excavation work begins, it is easier to resolve disputes if an underground facility is damaged as a result of improper marking, failure to mark, or markings that have been moved, removed, or covered.  Make sure to capture documentation (measurements) of marks in relation to permanent landmarks like large rocks, utility poles, pedestals, gates, fences and buildings. 

Governmental Fleets Not Covered by FMSCA Regulations? Think Again!

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) was established January 1, 2000, to regulate the trucking industry in the U.S.  The primary mission of the FMSCA is to improve the safety of commercial motor vehicles and truck drivers through the enactment and enforcement of safety regulations. 

One question Oklahoma cities and towns ask themselves is whether FMSCA regulations apply to governmental fleets. 

Many Oklahoma cities and towns believe they are exempt from FMSCA regulations governing truck weight limits and other safety regulations.  It is true that governmental fleets have exemptions for emergency vehicles and snow and ice control equipment.  However, government fleets are not exempt from operating a safe vehicle as defined by FMCSA regulations. 

Oklahoma municipalities may be exempt from the highway loading limits; however, they are still subject to vehicle design loading restrictions.  For example, if you plan on loading the rear axle of a flatbed or dump truck to 26,000 lbs., the axle (including springs and tires) must be rated for at least 26,000 lbs.  Otherwise, the flatbed truck used in this example would be considered an unsafe vehicle as mandated by FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards). 

The three common infractions for government fleets are driving without a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License), not conducting drug and alcohol testing when required and oversize or overweight municipal dump trucks, refuse haulers, or jet-rodders.  It is noteworthy that when municipal vehicles travel to other states, the size and weight violations for these vehicles are left entirely to the discretion of the state in which they are located.  It pays to be aware of the laws of states your fleet may be traveling into. 

Over the last decade more and more states have adopted most, or all, of the FMCSA regulations as their regulatory guidelines.  It is important to note that exceptions for governmental agencies only apply to particular chapters and/or sub-chapters of the FMCSA regulations.  If your agency leaves its municipal boundaries or crosses a state line, regulations may apply to your agency in different ways.  

On a related note, private entities doing government contract work, such as for-hire hauling, may mistakenly believe that FMSCA regulations do not apply to them when they are working for a government agency.  The municipal exemptions do not apply to these private entities, even when they are doing contract work for a municipality. 

Post-Incident-Interest 

Government vehicles are not targeted by law enforcement for FMSCA violations.  However, accidents can involve serious ramifications for vehicles with FMCSA safety violations.  If you’re involved in a serious accident, Highway Patrol has the right to impound your vehicles to investigate the incident under FMSCA guidelines.  This is the same way they would treat other carriers; they don’t have special guidelines to follow for governmental agencies.  They will ask for the vehicle’s driver’s vehicle inspection report (DVIR), maintenance and inspection records, and the driver’s file. 

It is important to know there is no exception to random annual drug/alcohol testing for all CDL drivers.  All municipal employees who operate vehicles requiring a CDL are subject to the CDL and drug testing requirements.  Only very specific, very narrow exceptions sometimes apply and most municipal fleets do not fit exemptions in these areas. 

What are the consequences of violating FMCSA regulations? They are the same for municipalities as for anybody else. The operator of the vehicle could be ticketed. The driver could be ticketed or warned.  If your vehicle is overweight, and you are in a state that enforces that, then you are going to get an overweight ticket. Oklahoma does enforce weight limits. 

General Safety - Unsafe Acts

Most of us know that accidents are caused by only two things - unsafe acts/practices, and unsafe conditions. Some of us even know that 9 out of 10 accidents are the result of unsafe acts, or things we do when we know better. This is kind of strange if you think about it. We have more to fear from our own actions than from any other job hazards around us. Why do we deliberately expose ourselves to injury every day?

Attitude: “It Won't Happen to Me”
Basically, most of us are just thinking about getting the job done and we tend to rationalize the risk of getting injured. We think to ourselves that we have done this job many, many times this way and nothing bad has happened. Therefore, nothing bad will happen to us today. On an intellectual level, we realize there is a potential danger but decide that the risk of being injured is low. Because we have not been injured so far, we may think of ourselves as being very safety conscious. We know the right way to do it, we realize that it is hazardous to do it this way, but what we are really thinking to ourselves is "It won't happen to me."

Attitude: “It’s OK to Take Short Cuts”
Some of us are meticulous about following safe work practices, but because a job "will only take a minute" we use an unsafe method or tool. For example, not putting on our safety glasses because the job will only take a minute, or not locking out a machine because an adjustment will only take a second. Or maybe even forgetting to inform our supervisor and coworkers where we are, because we'll only be in a hazardous environment for a few seconds.

Usually we think about it just before we do something a little unsafe, or maybe quite a bit unsafe. We know better, we know the safe way to do it, but we take that little chance. In effect we are saying, "I know that this could result in an injury, but "It can't happen to me." Maybe it's human nature to think that accidents always happen to someone else, but they can happen to you too. What makes you different?

Why take a chance in the first place? Only you can decide to take the time to do your job safely and correctly the first time. And don’t forget, your injury doesn’t just affect you.  Stop and think about how it might affect your family and coworkers before you take an unsafe risk.

 

Practicing Good Safety Habits

In most everything we do, we find a "trick" to make the process easier and faster. After we develop these tricks, they become work habits in our everyday activities. Developing everyday safety habits can keep you injury free through the year. Here are some safety habits to live by:

1. Set Your Own Standards - Don't be influenced by others around you who are negative. If you fail to wear safety glasses because others don't, remember the blindness you may suffer will be yours alone to live with.

2. Operate Equipment Only if Qualified - Your supervisor may not realize you have never done the job before. You have the responsibility to let your supervisor know, so the necessary training can be provided.

3. Respect Machinery - If you put something in a machine's way, it will crush it, pinch it or cut it. Make sure all guards are in place. Never hurry beyond your ability to think and act safely. Remember to de-energize the power first before placing your hands in a point of operation.

4. Use Your Own Initiative for Safety Protection - You are in the best position to see problems when they arise. Ask for the personal protective equipment or additional guidance you need.

5. Ask Questions - If you are uncertain, ask. Do not accept answers that contain, "I think, I assume, I guess." Be sure.

6. Use Care and Caution When Lifting - Most muscle and spinal injuries are from overstrain. Know your limits. Do not attempt to exceed them. The few minutes it takes to get help will prevent weeks of being off work and in pain.

7. Practice Good Housekeeping - Disorganized work areas are a breeding ground for accidents. You may not be the only victim. Don't be a cause.

8. Wear Proper and Sensible Work Clothes - Wear sturdy and appropriate footwear. These should enclose the foot fully. Avoid loose clothing and dangling jewelry, and be sure that long hair is tied back and cannot become entangled in the machinery.

9. Practice Good Personal Cleanliness - Avoid touching eyes, face, and mouth with gloves or hands that are dirty. Wash your hands frequently and use barrier creams when necessary. Most industrial rashes are the result of poor hygiene practices.

10. Be a Positive Part of the Safety Team - Willingly accept and follow safety rules. Encourage and redirect others in a positive and caring manner regarding safety procedures. Your attitude can play a major role in the prevention of accidents and injuries.