L ET’ S TA LK S A FE TY This column addresses safety issues of interest to water and wastewater personnel, and will appear monthly in the magazine. The Journal is also interested in receiving any articles on the subject of safety that it can share with readers in the “Spotlight on Safety” column.
The Increased Hazards of Night Work
N
ight shifts are a fact of life for many companies and employees. While they allow companies to keep a job going 24/7 if there is a deadline in place, in many cases, night shifts are often used to avoid causing disruption during busy, “high traffic” periods. Night shifts are sometimes not very popular with employees, as they can be inconvenient to most lifestyles. Depending on the nature of the job, there may be hazards associated with night-shift work. It’s imperative, therefore, that employers are aware of the risks and employees have received the proper worksite safety training to cope with night shifts.
Unique Conditions Working at night presents some special safety challenges, particularly for people working in traffic areas. The biggest challenge is finding a way to cope with the reduced visibility. At dawn and dusk, the sun is low in the sky and causes glare on a vehicle’s windshield. Once the sun has set, the distance a motorist can see is restricted by headlight efficiency, and some drivers have poor night vision. Statistics show that 25 percent of workers killed on the job when struck by a vehicle were working between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., but only 9 percent of the workforce is on duty during those
hours. This statistic means that crews working at night are three times more likely to be struck by a vehicle than their daytime counterparts. Even when workers are wearing reflective safety vests, motorists aren’t always able to determine that the object with the reflective tape is a human. When turned sideways, bending over, or standing motionless, workers are often mistaken for traffic cones or other safety markers. Motorists are less likely to slow down for a marker on the roadside than for a worker. Safety experts also note that working near the road is more dangerous at night because traffic is lighter, allowing motorists to travel faster through the work zone. The condition of drivers at night also presents a hazard to workers. A higher percentage of drivers at night are subject to fatigue or to alcohol or drug impairment.
Making Work Safer Here are some things you can do to make the work zone safer at night: S M ake sure your work clothing has an abundance of reflective material. The bright orange or yellow that motorists can see so well during the day does little good at night unless it‘s accompanied by reflective material on your vest or jacket, hard hat, and pants.
S L ine up parked equipment to serve as a boundary to protect work zones. S Use floodlights to illuminate flagger stations, equipment crossings, and any other areas where crew members will be working. Floodlights can cause a disabling glare for drivers entering a work zone, so once the lights are set, a utility worker should drive through the area to observe their positioning and make adjustments as necessary. S Because of reduced visibility, crew members need to slow down and work more cautiously, especially when working around excavations. Shadows and dark areas inside trenches make the simple job of getting in and out of them more difficult. Footing near trench walls may appear to be more stable than it actually is. S Crew members signaling and operating excavation equipment also need to take extra care in their job duties. The glare from traffic headlights and the fact that some excavation areas are partially hidden in shadows makes jobs more difficult.
Onsite Night Work Reduced visibility isn’t just an issue at offsite work locations; because of dark areas and shadows created by floodlights, an area of the facility you are quite familiar with during daylight
The 2019 Let’s Talk Safety is available from AWWA; visit www.awwa.org or call 800.926.7337. Get 40 percent off the list price or 10 percent off the member price by using promo code SAFETY19. The code is good for the 2019 Let’s Talk Safety book, dual disc set, and book + CD set.
32 January 2021 • Florida Water Resources Journal
