How to Set Up the Roller and Rolling Zone for Safest Practices
BY John Ball
Along with the equipment maintenance tips we’ve been sharing, there’s a safety aspect we need to address when it comes to the upkeep of paving and pavement maintenance machines. Hopefully, team members recognize by now how important it is to maintain pavers, rollers, skid steers, brooms and the like to keep this equipment in optimal condition for achieving a top quality job. But stop and think about the safety of your crew members and the traveling public when you’re performing routine and spring start-up maintenance tasks.
We’ve talked before about the importance of cleaning lights, safety decals and reflective tape on pavers and haul trucks. Any little bit of reflection could be the piece that catches a motorist’s eye before he or she glances away from the road and down at their phone—each bit of light or extra reflective tape you have on your paver could be the item that gets their attention and prevents them from plowing into your work zone.
Making your equipment reflective is like armoring yourself for battle. Don’t take it for granted. Instead, think of your piece of equipment like an extension of your safety vest. You want it to be in its best condition and you want to position it most effectively to protect you. Let’s use the roller this month to show you what I mean. I won’t name the companies or places where I saw these safety issues happening because my goal here is not to embarrass anyone; my goal is to educate others on best safety practices.
I cannot overstate how important it is to clean lights, safety decals and reflective tape on the equipment. Any little bit of reflection could be the piece that catches a motorist’s eye and prevents them from plowing into your work zone.
Make Your Roller a Safe Space
One of the first things to think about is putting all the safety features of the roller to work. When the lowboy driver delivered the roller to the jobsite, the collapsible Rollover Protective System (ROPS) was probably down to protect it from being damaged—and so were the mirrors—during transport. Someone needs to make sure the system is put back up and secured in place so it can do its job of protecting the operator.
The ROPS creates a safety cage that the operator sits in, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore your seatbelt. Back in the old days, before ROPS, if a roller was working on a slope and the machine tipped over, the operator needed to jump clear and hope he jumped the right direction to avoid the machine crushing him to death. Nowadays, the safety cage is a robust, heavy-duty system that prevents him from being crushed if, God forbid, the roller should tip over on an embankment or other slope. But the seat belt is what will keep the operator inside the cage that’s built to protect him. If he’s not wearing his seat belt, he could be thrown from the cage, in the wrong direction.
Roller platforms these days allow the operator to swivel; some of them have 360-degree swiveling that lets the operator see all angles of the mat. The joystick is right there in your hand, moving with you as you move. That means you don’t have to feel confined by seat belts. You can move and see the mat you’re compacting even when you have this safety device in place. That means there’s no excuse for leaving a seat belt dangling to the side, unused.
In this picture, the seat belt is dangling unused. The operator could be thrown away from the safety cage of the operator’s platform if the roller were to tip over. Instead of this unsafe situation, make sure the roller operators use all their protective gear. Also, note that the strobe light on the back of the ROPS needs to be relocated to the top and the bracket at the front of the machine (circled in red) is missing the mirror that could help the operator view not just the edge of the mat but also obstructions.
Another item that’s supposed to protect the roller operator and the people on the ground is the backup alarm. I’ve seen people stick paper or a rag in the megaphone backup alarm on the roller to muffle it because it was too loud and bothering them. This is unacceptable. The whole purpose of the alarm is to be loud enough to alert people that the 14-ton machine is moving toward them or their equipment. We have become complacent when hearing it.
Make the Scene Safe
And while we’re talking about people and other equipment on the ground, let’s talk about the whole scene around the roller. Let’s talk about the work zone.
For certain types of jobs, you are required to follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This manual provides common sense guidelines for any work zone as well as rules and regulations for state and highway projects. The safety rules are set in place to safeguard the workers inside your work zone and the traveling (or walking) public outside your work zone.
On a job where the MUTCD wasn’t used, I suggested to the team that we place a work truck with its four-way flashers and strobe light at the beginning of the work zone in the off-ramp to help alert drivers to the work zone. The project had barrels set up on one side of the lane, but the roller operator was exposed to drivers coming up behind him. He was the first construction vehicle the drivers would notice as they exited a highway and decelerated from highway speeds.
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This situation demands a crash attenuator and flashing lights to get drivers’ attention. This situation demands the roller have a clean, functioning strobe light atop the ROPs; clean, functioning lights on its corners; clean, functioning headlights that are turned on; and clean, well-maintained reflective tape to make it stand out. Even in the daytime, you want these lights to be on and reflecting properly.
Think about the individual person. He wears a reflective vest to catch everyone’s attention and to let everyone know where he is. His back is often to traffic so he needs mirrors adjusted to show him what’s going on. The lights on the roller are the roller operator’s reflective vest so people can see him. The lights are the extra safety apparatus for your equipment. If the roller is the first indication of a work zone, you want that thing to be lit up like a Christmas tree. You want that thing to reflect.
Above all, use common sense and work as a team to keep all members of the crew and the motoring public safe. The goal is to get a top quality mat while everyone goes home safe at the end of the shift.
John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com.
Basic roller safety guidelines:
Are you in a safe zone?
- Follow the MUTCD for best work zone setup practices
- Put a crash attenuator (or something with flashing lights) before the work zone
When you get to the jobsite:
- Leave your vest on and zipped up
- Make sure you’re using all available PPE properly
- Make sure the ROPs are properly in place and check them over to make sure there aren’t any missing bolts or fractures
- Clean and check the strobe light on top of the ROPS is secure
- Clean and check the headlights to ensure they’re working properly
- Clean and check all the lights on the corners of the machine, including four-way flashers
- Clean and maintain the mirrors; focus them after they’ve been flattened for travel on the lowboy
- Do not obstruct or disable the backup alarm; check it before you start your shift to ensure it’s 90 decibels or more, according to OSHA regs
- Clean and maintain all the reflective tape and safety decals
When it’s time to roll:
- Put on your seat belt
- Turn on the strobe
- No matter the time of day, turn the headlights on