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A spotter when the rear view is blocked

Vehicles and backing 5 min 29 CFR 1926.601

Why it matters

A vehicle with a blocked view to the rear needs a backup alarm you can hear over the job noise, or a spotter, before it backs. The spotter stands where the driver can see them. The driver stops if that view is lost. One spotter. Nobody stands in the crush space.

The talk

A vehicle with a blocked view to the rear needs a backup alarm you can hear over the job noise, or a spotter, before it backs. That is 1926.601. If you cannot hear the alarm from where people are walking, do not treat the alarm as enough. Use a spotter. The driver does not start the backup until the alarm is sounding and people can hear it, or until the spotter is in place and has given the sign to move. Guessing that the rear is clear is how people get hit. If the saws, the compressor, or the radio cover the alarm, the alarm is not doing the job by itself.

The spotter stands where the driver can see them. Never stand directly behind the vehicle. Never stand between the vehicle and a wall, a pier, or a stack. If the driver is looking at you, you are not in the crush space. Stand off to the side, in the mirror or in the driver's plain view, and signal from there. One spotter. Two people waving means the driver does not know who to follow. If you are not the spotter, stay out of the backup path. Do not walk behind the truck because you think the spotter sees you too.

The driver stops if they lose sight of the spotter. A spotter who steps behind a pile to look at a tire is no longer a spotter. The vehicle stays stopped until the spotter is back in view and signals again. The spotter does not turn their back and walk the truck in by sound. A clear view of the spotter, and of the signals, stays the whole way. If the crew noise covers the alarm, you already know the alarm is not enough, and the spotter is the control. Nobody uses the backup path as a shortcut while that vehicle is moving.

Key points

  1. A blocked view to the rear needs an alarm you can hear over the job noise, or a spotter.
  2. That is the rule in 1926.601.
  3. The spotter stands where the driver can see them.
  4. Never stand directly behind the vehicle.
  5. Never stand between the vehicle and a wall.
  6. One spotter only.
  7. The driver stops if they lose sight of the spotter.

Do this

  • Use a spotter when you cannot hear the backup alarm over the job.
  • Stand where the driver can see you, off to the side.
  • Use one spotter, with signals the driver can see the whole way.
  • Stop the vehicle the moment the spotter leaves the driver's view.
  • Stay out of the backup path if you are not the spotter.

Do not do this

  • Do not back a vehicle with a blocked rear view and no alarm people can hear and no spotter.
  • Do not stand directly behind the vehicle.
  • Do not stand between the vehicle and a wall or a stack.
  • Do not use two spotters waving at once.
  • Do not keep backing after the driver loses sight of the spotter.

Talk about it

  1. Which vehicles on this job have a blocked view to the rear?
  2. Where can you still hear the backup alarm over today's noise, and where do we need a spotter?
  3. Where will the spotter stand so the driver sees them and they are not behind the vehicle?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

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