Desert Line Project Fatal Incident Safety Alert 08/98 Committed to Safety Desert Line Project Fatal Incident Background On May14th 1998 a PDO Contractor’s employee was fatally injured. Whilst attempting to cross a road, the employee was struck by a reversing pneumatic tyre roller being used by an asphalting crew on the Nimr - Bahja road construction project. The employee was not part of the asphalting crew but had been dropped near the worksite to carry out some other task. Causes of the incident The immediate cause of the incident was the employee stepping into the path of the pneumatic tyre roller. A detailed investigation is presently in progress but it would appear that the cause was due to a lack of safety awareness, lack of due care and attention or fatigue and (heat) stress. The underlying causes (as identified in preliminary investigation) are believed to be: - The employee had been left near the asphalting crew's worksite without adequate communication with the asphalting crew - inadequate supervision. - The asphalting crew foreman was unaware of the injured man's presence - inadequate supervision. - The employee had been dropped off without adequate provision of water - inadequate procedures and work standards (this is believed to be the main reason why the employee went to the asphalt worksite). Learning Points and Action to Prevent Recurrence From this incident, three learning points have been identified which need urgent attention: - When new personnel are taken to any worksite, appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that all parties involved at that worksite know of each other’s presence and activity. - People working in hot, arid desert climates require clean drinking water at all times. People must never be left without ensuring that they have access to drinking water. - Radio communication, as part of overall emergency system in geographically remote worksites, should be provided to ensure that ill or injured employees can be evacuated.