Safety Material for the Trucking Industry
October 2019

Taken for a Ride

Riding the trailer door looks like a quick way down, but it actually puts truck drivers at risk for fall, strain, and crush injuries. A 38-year-old driver learned this the hard way. He was getting out of his trailer after moving some freight. In a rush, he grabbed the latch handle to ride the trailer door down to the ground. Suddenly, the left side door cable broke loose and the heavy door dropped hard and fast. The driver fell on his back and the door slammed into his mid-section, pinning him with his upper body hanging out of the trailer.

Image of driver holding door and about to jump down that is dangerous.

Tips to live by

Abate the Weight

A 53-year-old truck driver injured his lower back while changing propane tanks on his forklift.He drove a flatbed truck with a trailer-mounted forklift he used to load freight alone.One day while loading pallets at a customer site, the driver parked his forklift to replace its empty propane tank. He removed the tank, set it on the ground, and grabbed a seventy-pound full one next to it.

Image of swing-down bracket for lifting propane tank.

Tips to live by

Hear ye, hear ye! October is National Protect Your Hearing Month

Listen up. October is National Protect Your Hearing Month. The annual observance is a time to learn about noise-induced hearing loss and ways to prevent it. Depending on intensity, exposure to loud noise can result in immediate or gradual hearing loss or other damage in one or both ears. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that hearing loss due to loud noise may affect up to 24 percent of American adults under age 70.

Image of ear silhouette with differen dicimels of sounds with recommended exposure limit.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

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Prevent falls from ladders

Based on the true story of a driver painfully injured from rushing down a ladder.

Try our training tool

Jump force

Image of outline body and cabin door open with title determine your impact force.

Know the forces involved in exiting your truck cab or trailer.

Try our force simulator

MOST COMMON INJURIES

Slips, trips, falls

Strain & sprains (musculoskeletal disorders)

Getting struck by or against an object

The Trucking Injury Reduction Emphasis (TIRES) project was developed by the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) program of Washington's Department of Labor & Industries.

The Trucking Injury Reduction Emphasis (TIRES) project team and the TIRES steering committee are working with the Washington State trucking industry to identify causes for the most frequent injuries to develop effective strategies for preventing them. Free safety training materials are available at KeepTruckingSafe.org.

The TIRES steering committee is made up of a diverse group of professionals that includes: drivers, safety people from large and small trucking companies, labor and business associations, insurers and a representative from a publicly funded truck driving school.

Funded in part by a grant from CDC NIOSH 5 U60 OH 008487. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC/NIOSH.

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