FACTS
- Truck drivers had more non-fatal injuries than any other industry. More than half of those were sprains and strains caused in part by slip and falls while getting in or out of trucks.
- To reduce or prevent injuries, use the “three points of contact system” when entering and exiting a truck. The three points of contact system means three of four limbs are in contact with the vehicle at all times (two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand, etc.).
- Three-points of contact form a triangle of anchor points, which changes in form when mounting or dismounting a vehicle.
- Drivers have the most stability when the center of the triangle is closest to their center of gravity. Sideways movement should be avoided since it creates an imbalance of weight distribution.
- Preventing injuries on the job requires education, demonstration and continuous training to reinforce proper techniques and habits. Training should begin when a driver is hired and be reinforced frequently.
- Slips, trips, and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries. For drivers, these types of injuries commonly occur when improperly entering or exiting the cab and trailer.
STATS
- In 2018, the transportation industry accounted for 20% of all non-fatal workplace illnesses and injuries that required time off of work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On average, a driver needed 13 days away from work to recover from a workplace injury. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that 50% of truck driver injuries result in strains and sprains, which are common when a driver falls from a truck.
- There was an estimated annual average of 607,000 non-crash injuries involving passenger vehicles seen in emergency departments. The three most common injury patterns were injuries from closing vehicle doors such as doors closed on fingers or hands (22% of all injuries), falls while entering or exiting vehicles (13%), and overexertion such as when unloading cargo from trunks or the backs of pickups (10%).
- The most common types of non crash injuries seen in emergency departments were injuries while entering or exiting a vehicle (estimated 164,000 per year), injuries from closing doors (estimated 148,000 per year) and injuries from overexertion such as while unloading cargo or pushing a disabled vehicle (estimated 88,000 per year).
- Falls that occur other than while entering or exiting vehicles accounted for an estimated 10 % of the non-crash injuries. This injury mechanism included falls from the exteriors of vehicles such as from tailgates or trunk lids and falls against the exteriors of vehicles such as when slipping on ice or while washing vehicles.