Heavy Equipment Operators - How Dangerous Is Our Job?

Damn! Thanks for your replies! I am just new to this field that is why I read a lot about the industry to try and understand whether it is worth it or not. I would really love to operate treaded excavators, but there is so many different machines, so I get lost.

I just wanted some insights into how dangerous the job is and what it takes to be a heavy equipment operator on a daily basis.

crane operator said:

If you move your cursor over the words "most dangerous jobs" it lights up and is a link.

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Did you run your cursor over the whole post line by line or did you just happen to catch it as it was randomly sliding across?

Birken Vogt said:

Did you run your cursor over the whole post line by line or did you just happen to catch it as it was randomly sliding across?

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I just kind of flashed my cursor past the thing, it seemed like a fishy post so I expected a link embedded. I did report it, and then when some guys replied, I figured I just as well stick in my 2 cents worth, and how its just a linking post. I don't know what they get paid for each click, but it wouldn't be enough for me.

crane operator said:

5% of accidents involve equipment, so we are in a dangerous job? Buddy, you're logic don't follow at all, and the title of your post is "how dangerous is our job?" If you're a operator, I'll eat my hardhat. I didn't click on your imbedded link, so I don't know what your gig is, I don't care.

Since we are quoting osha, 971 construction workers died on the job in 2018. 39% of those were falls. Less than 5% is caught betweens, which "can" include machinery, you need to learn to read the statistics that you are quoting.

The part they avoid, is actually the most common death is car accident. Which is over 40% of the deaths.

Over 40,000 people died last year from car accidents, of the 971 construction worker deaths, the most common one isn't quite work, its driving on the roads in a company vehicle.

I'd say (and so do the numbers) we are all safer every day at work, than any of us are on the way too and from work.

Figures lie and liars figure.

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I agree with what you say 'crane operator' and if I remember correctly from my not so long ago work days the OSHA statistic on "equipment" does not designate only heavy construction equipment. The category covers any accident involving any type of equipment, including building elevators, air handlers, pumps, motors, scissor lifts, hand trucks, etc, etc, etc. Accidents with any jobsite equipment including the buildings permanent installed equipment is in this category. Much if not most of this equipment is not even operated by heavy equipment operators.

crane operator said:

I just kind of flashed my cursor past the thing, it seemed like a fishy post so I expected a link embedded. I did report it, and then when some guys replied, I figured I just as well stick in my 2 cents worth, and how its just a linking post. I don't know what they get paid for each click, but it wouldn't be enough for me.

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I wish there was a setting that would require Probationary Members to reach Full Member status before posting links, but there isn't.

I saw the reported post, and when I checked it out there had already been a couple of replies. My conservative guess is that 99.9% of the time when a new member includes a link in their first-ever post, it's spam, or more accurately, Search Engine Optimization. And I don't think this was anything other than that. But, since this one generated some discussion, I figured, what the heck, let's just let it be and see where the discussion goes...

Grade checkers and groundmen are in the line of fire, and most danger. Bosses making operators rush makes their job more dangerous.

I've been excavating with a wheel loader for the last 2 weeks, and the most dangerous thing on our jobsite is the old guy who can't hear and doesn't look back when backing. RIP old exhaust stack...... He likes to jump down off his 1 yard loader and tell me I have to fill his bucket with my 6 yard loader because he can't manage his pile.

He's followed by the skip drivers that jump on top of a 2 out of 30 scoop lift and start grading, and think their bucket/gannon is worth getting in my path of travel.

Honestly, I would rather have 4 people watching me move a pile than 3 pieces of moving equipment and 2 hose men(one attatched to a water truck) to keep track of.

Target fixation gets me in trouble the most. Someone is doing something that has me confused in one direction, and someone/something else not in my field of vision moving around near the loader. Those are the instances that scare the crap out of you. I'm constantly checking my work space and keeping a mental map of who is where.

The new guy we have has the best decision making skills of the bunch when it comes to self preservation.

I don't feel in danger in the loader, even digging and rolling over piles(my back feels in danger a lot of the time tho). I do feel the stress of trying to make sure no one around me gets hurt or killed tho.

After working in warehousing for a while I'll agree that the guy who doesn't look backwards upon reversing is real scary. I've had too many close calls with forklifts, and guys who get comfy driving them, forgetting that people move around on the floor too...

Sad days last week up on a St Louis MSD Project. Oiler got in behind the house on a tracked lattice doing heavy lifts, somehow ended up between the track and house when the operator made a swing and crushed him, were NOT Using radios for some odd reason. Mid 30s, load of kids and wife that did not have Daddy come home from work.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local...cle_ca4ffc2d-b986-5c2c-b5e8-195a257729d6.html

As far as what's dangerous for operators is stupidity of pushing the limits of a machine and typically right before you flip one it's in your mind that this is a bad idea

Ground guys are dangerous when they think they know what your doing so they run in the line of fire without making eye contact as far as hose guys there say to keep an eye on because they usually blast your window so you cant see anything else I almost backed over a laborer last week he got lost in the boom of my backhoe as he tried to run across the back was his third day on the job we had a short and direct conversation of what he was allowed to do

There are only 2 operators I will work with in close quarters especially where its synchronized work because we all know what we are doing with each other and that comes from experience

DMiller said:

Sad days last week up on a St Louis MSD Project. Oiler got in behind the house on a tracked lattice doing heavy lifts, somehow ended up between the track and house when the operator made a swing and crushed him, were NOT Using radios for some odd reason. Mid 30s, load of kids and wife that did not have Daddy come home from work.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local...cle_ca4ffc2d-b986-5c2c-b5e8-195a257729d6.html

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That was horrible to read,
My takeaway is, he was short time on job. Did he have proper training? The operator is distraught, he's gotta carry that now. I hate to invoke "Big Brother" here, but I hope there is an investigation into task training and previous experience. It may have been an honest accident from human error. Odds are someone told him 15 minutes worth of "this is what you do, don't get hurt!" Now his family is lacking, just terrible.

DMiller said:

Sad days last week up on a St Louis MSD Project. Oiler got in behind the house on a tracked lattice doing heavy lifts, somehow ended up between the track and house when the operator made a swing and crushed him, were NOT Using radios for some odd reason. Mid 30s, load of kids and wife that did not have Daddy come home from work.

l

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Thanks for posting that, I hadn't read that article. Two weeks on the job and working nights. Its a recipe for disaster. What a horrible accident, and how sad for that family and kids. Be safe out there guys.

Goes to show any of us that have years of experience underrate how green some guys are and the worst part is while it's not the ultimate responsibility of the experienced hands to keep them safe I have always felt a minor responsibility to keep the new guys aware of and to respect the equipment they are working around

Makes for tragic stories and any one of us could end up in a simalar one

Reminds me of a Cason drill working at the airport here a year ago he when the operator was dumping the augers just as he was starting to to swing back the top of the hole caved in and the drill tipped over cab side to the hole the door was open and the operator was not wearing a seat belt the fire department recovered the body over 20 feet deep in the caved in hole 2 days later shut that job down for a week for an investigation

Again tragic stories

Thinking of "ground crews" & digging machines.. I seem to recall they don't wear orange or green vests..
It sure would make then easier to see, seeing they're usually the same color as the dirt..{from hard work }
Is this a preference thing..?? or are they breaking the law{Osha}
Its funny tho.. the operators have them on..

AzIron said:

Goes to show any of us that have years of experience underrate how green some guys are and the worst part is while it's not the ultimate responsibility of the experienced hands to keep them safe I have always felt a minor responsibility to keep the new guys aware of and to respect the equipment they are working around

Makes for tragic stories and any one of us could end up in a simalar one

Reminds me of a Cason drill working at the airport here a year ago he when the operator was dumping the augers just as he was starting to to swing back the top of the hole caved in and the drill tipped over cab side to the hole the door was open and the operator was not wearing a seat belt the fire department recovered the body over 20 feet deep in the caved in hole 2 days later shut that job down for a week for an investigation

Again tragic stories

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I think it IS our responsibility! Someone showed us how to stay alive, we have an obligation to pass that on. I see greenies all the time crossing under suspended loads. Whether a bucket, boom, hook block or whatever. Crossing behind a running machine without making eye contact with the operator, another no-no. If we get labeled as safety nazi's, so what. If it helps one kid go home to his/her family, they can call me whatever they want.

We all wear hi viz. It definitely makes a difference!

Our experienced guys(we aren't really dirt movers, but we do it on occasion...) are always closing in on my dump piles while I'm trying to turn out of a hole, they end up in the direct path of my bucket, and they don't even pause to think stuff could drop out of it, and I don't think they have been hit before. I've given plenty of warnings and stories.... i have to shake the bucket clean and crowd it up to give them their best chance of survival too many times a day(once is too many).

I personally may do this, but always make eye contact with the operator and watch the bucket swing with a thumbs up. This rarely happens, but I am fully aware of it and take the responsibility. I've had guys without even a hard hat on turn their back and bend over under a loaded bucket.....

When I'm a ground man, operators are more efficient because I'm always in view and watching them when they start backing or swinging(and usually already know where to glance to see where i am to verify), and I keep up with grade control and watch their blind spots for them as I'm always in their view. I've had bystanders try to tell me I'm being unsafe sometimes, when both me and the operator know exactly what we are doing.

I still think the most dangerous operating task is bending/breaking metal in demo and excavating tasks. That and having to move heavy objects attatched to chains.