Landfill Operations and Off Highway Construction Vehicle Visibility Impairment Issues Result in a Serious Injury: A Case Study

Abstract

This case study reviews the hazards involved with the work procedures and work environment combined with large mobile equipment associated with a landfill operation. An active landfill is a very busy work environment. There typically is a constant stream of municipal solid waste (MSW) trucks of various sizes and dimensions approaching and dropping their waste load onto the landfill active work area, which is referred to as the landfill face or tipping area. In addition to the MSW delivery truck traffic, the active face in this case study was being traversed back and forth by two large industrial vehicles: a bulldozer (or “dozer”) and a steel-wheeled compactor vehicle. The injured party, who was just transferred to the job of “waste spotter,” or just spotter, had the responsibility of directing the incoming stream of MSW trucks as to where to dump their loads while also directing (and avoiding) the tracked loader and the steel-wheeled compactor vehicle as they operated on the landfill active face. Additionally, due to the dumped MSW, the active landfill face topography is constantly changing, and the pedestrian spotter therefore must constantly be moving on the active face to avoid being struck by the vehicular traffic. The bulldozer manufacturer acknowledged that the loader travels in reverse approximately 50 percent of its operating time on the landfill space. Hence, any static visibility impairments were further compounded when the dozer traveled in reverse over changing topography. Other issues that negatively affected the landfill face hazardous environment were a lack of any safety procedures for the landfill operations and a lack of hazard training and instructions provided to the waste spotter working the landfill face.