Struck-By Hazards on Construction Sites

Key Hazards

• Workers struck by moving vehicles or mobile equipment
• Falling tools, materials, or debris from elevated work
• Swinging crane loads, equipment counterweights, or suspended material
• Flying particles from cutting, grinding, fastening, or demolition
• Materials that roll, slide, tip, or collapse during storage and handling
• Workers entering blind spots or line-of-fire zones

2–3 Minute Talk Script

Struck-By Hazards on Construction Sites requires workers to recognize the task-specific hazards before work begins and to use the controls established for the project.

The crew should identify vehicle routes, overhead work, lifting areas, material storage, tool operations, and other locations where an object or machine could strike someone.

Pedestrian routes, exclusion zones, barricades, spotters, and high-visibility clothing should be used to separate workers from moving equipment.

Tools and materials used overhead should be secured, and workers below should be protected by controlled-access zones, toeboards, canopies, or other suitable methods.

Workers should stay out of suspended-load paths, equipment swing radii, backing zones, and the path of materials that could roll, fall, or shift.

Machine guards, face and eye protection, screens, and safe positioning should control flying fragments from cutting, grinding, chipping, and fastening.

Loads and stacked materials should be stable, restrained when necessary, and handled with equipment suited to their weight, shape, and center of gravity.

Work should stop when visibility is poor, separation controls fail, an overhead hazard develops, a load becomes unstable, or workers cannot remain outside the line of fire.

Safety Reminders

• Stay out of equipment blind spots and swing radii.
• Never work beneath a suspended load.
• Secure tools and materials used overhead.
• Control flying particles with guards and PPE.
• Use spotters and barricades where needed.
• Keep storage and stacked material stable.
• Stop when workers enter the line of fire.

Ask the Crew

• What vehicles, tools, or materials could strike someone today?
• Where are the blind spots and equipment swing zones?
• What overhead work requires an exclusion zone?
• How will flying particles and falling objects be controlled?
• Who will stop the operation if separation is lost?