Summary Statement
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has begun requiring new safeguards to better protect construction workers from dump trucks that are backing up. There must now be an observer signaling when it is safe to back up or a device such as a video camera that provides the driver with a full view of the area.
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TUMWATER — The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has begun requiring new safeguards to better protect construction workers from dump trucks that are backing up. Six workers have been killed in Washington since 1999 when they were backed over by dump trucks, including two last year in King County. The deaths occurred despite the trucks being equipped with audible back-up alarms. The new requirements, which L&I will begin enforcing June 1, require that in addition to the back-up alarm, dump-truck drivers must have either an observer signaling when it is safe to back up or a device such as a video camera that provides the driver with a full view of the area behind the dump truck. The requirements were adopted May 5 as emergency rules. For more information, go to http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/ or call 800-423-7233.
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