C.F.R.Heavy equipment is a particular type of industrial machinery. To qualify as “heavy,” it must weigh a minimum of 2.5 tons. Heavy equipment may move around the workplace, driven by a specially trained heavy equipment operator, or it may be fixed to the site. The common denominator for all heavy equipment is its ability to make the project more productive and efficient. Heavy equipment helps workers get the job done faster and better than in pre-industrial times. In other words, it allows companies to generate greater revenues in a shorter time frame.
The design and manufacture of this particular type of industrial machine is a lucrative and growing industry in its own right. Consider the following examples of heavy equipment:
- Articulated Haulers
- Asphalt Pavers
- Backhoe Loaders
- Bulldozers
- Cold Planers
- Compactors
- Cranes
- Dozers
- Draglines
- Drilling Machines
- Dump Trucks
- Electric Rope Shovels
- Excavators
- Feller Bunchers
- Forest Machines
- Harvesters
- Hydraulic Mining Shovels
- Material Handlers
- Motor Graders
- Off-Highway Trucks
- Pavers
- Pipelayers
- Road Reclaimers
- Scrapers
- Skid Steer Loaders
- Telehandlers
- Track Loaders
- Tractors
- Trenchers
- Underground-Hard Rock
- Underground – Longwall
- Wheel Loaders
- Wheel Tractor-Scrapers.
Here in Indiana and Illinois, heavy equipment is an absolute necessity on all sorts of worksites, including construction, warehousing, manufacturing, commercial farming, mining, and steel production. From the perspective of safety agencies and advocates of work accident victims and their families, the presence of all this dangerous industrial equipment comes with a significant risk of serious harm or death. Heavy equipment poses specific risks and hazards to those tasked with its operations as well as any worker or visitor on the industrial site.
The size, weight, and power that come with any form of heavy equipment makes it particularly hazardous for all those on the worksite. Even a slight mistake or failure in its operation may have deadly consequences.
Consider the following warning from the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights for construction workers:
More than 100 people each year are killed by mobile heavy equipment – including backhoes/excavators, mobile cranes, road grading and surfacing machinery, loaders, bulldozers, and tractors – on construction sites. These are the main causes of death:
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- Workers on foot are struck by equipment, usually when it’s backing up or changing direction.
- Equipment rolls over and kills the operator while on a slope or when equipment is loaded or unloaded from a flatbed/lowboy truck.
- Operators or mechanics are run over or caught in equipment when the brakes aren’t set, equipment is left in gear, wheel chocks are not used, or the equipment and controls aren’t locked out.
- Workers on foot or in a trench are crushed by falling equipment loads, backhoe buckets, or other moving parts.
Heavy Equipment Injuries to Industrial Workers
Heavy equipment can result in permanent harm or death to industrial workers in sudden accidents where lives can be irrevocably changed in an instant. Regardless of the industry involved, these heavy equipment incidents are a real risk:
- Exposure to Live Wire / Electrocution
- Falls
- Struck-By Accidents
- Caught In-Between Incidents.
The result? Injuries to workers in heavy equipment accidents can involve severe and life-altering bodily harm such as:
- Amputation
- Disfigurement
- Internal Organ Damage
- Loss of Use of Limb
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Death.
The worker victim who is hurt in an on-the-job heavy equipment accident may suffer immediate and long-term pain and suffering, as well as psychological trauma. There will also be other harm suffered by the worker and their family, including lost wages, lost future earning capacity, medical expenses, physical rehabilitation costs, and more. For more, read What are Legal Damages After a Work-Related Accident in Indiana or Illinois?
Employers’ Duty of Care and Safety for Use and Operation of Heavy Equipment
Any employer who chooses to have any kind of heavy equipment on the worksite must be prepared to meet a legal duty to employees that they will be kept safe from harm during its use and operation. Some industries will have more extensive legal regulations than others; for instance, there are specific federal regulations for the use of heavy equipment on construction sites. See, 29 CFR §1926.600.
Training for anyone working on or near heavy equipment must be provided by the employer. There should be safety protocols in place in the event of injury. Proper inspection, maintenance, and repair of all heavy equipment on a routine basis must also be done to keep people safe. Sadly, there will be companies with management or site supervisors who fail to have the proper respect for the extreme dangers posed by heavy equipment.
In these instances, the employer and other companies with possession or control of aspects of the workplace may be found legally liable for the accident and its consequences. Heavy equipment accidents can be complex where more than one party may be held legally responsible in a breach of duty, such as a fatal electrocution due to an exposed live wire or a deadly caught-in-between incident during loading or unloading of cargo at a loading dock.
Justice for Workers Hurt in Heavy Equipment Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
Heavy equipment accidents can be horrific. The state laws of Indiana and Illinois, as well as federal laws designed to protect workers in certain industries, provide legal claims for damages to heavy equipment accident victims on the job and their families. See, Work Injuries and On-the-Job Accidents in Indiana and Illinois With Federal Law Protections: FELA, Jones Act, LHWCA, DBA.
Anyone injured in a heavy equipment work accident must investigate their situation to determine if their employer and other third parties have legal liability for what has occurred. Workers’ compensation laws dictate that employers are liable for work injuries that result in death or disability.
Premises liability, negligence, or defective product laws may also provide justice to workers harmed in a heavy equipment accident caused by breaches of duty by third parties. This can include the landowner, designer, manufacturer, inspector, engineer, architect, contractors, or repair and maintenance companies.
For more, read:
- Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
- Workers Beware: BLS Reports Highest US Worker Death Rate in 5 Years
- Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents
- Premises Liability and Workplace Accidents: Third Party Injury Claims
- Heavy Machinery Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
Workers on industrial sites in Indiana and Illinois have to depend upon employers and others in control of the workplace to protect them from being hurt on the job. This reliance is undeniably essential when heavy equipment is provided for use on the site. Sadly, all too often some companies disregard or disrespect known duties of safety and care, and people are hurt or killed in a heavy equipment accident as a result. Please be careful out there!
