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Oregon Worker Safety Alert ATVs

June 7th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

How can both workers and employers help reduce the increasing problem of deaths and injuries caused by ATV accidents on the job?

The answer is training, according to an Oregon worker safety alert. Because more and more ATVs are being used on the job, risks of death or injury are increasing. A new safety bulletin outlines just what guidelines should be followed, both for operation on an ATV on the job, and for the training programs an employer should use to reduce the risks involved in workplace ATV operation.

To insure there is no question about the vehicles it is referring to, the Oregon worker safety alert offers guidelines for any machine that meets its definition. The definition applies to any motorized off-road vehicle with a seat that the driver straddles. It also applies to any machine where the driver straddles the seat.

The bulletin stresses not only the need for safety, but also the need for a series of ways that work practices can be adjusted. For example, it recommends that helmets should always be worn.

The Oregon worker safety alert notes that the danger is very real. In the past 10 years alone, 100 ATV drivers have died in accidents on the job.

The problem is caused at least partially by a common misperception. Many people, looking at the fact that the sporty little ATVs are used recreationally and are often driven by children, make a mistaken assumption. They assume the machines are easy to operate. They’re not. They do not handle like a car or a motorcycle. Rollovers are commonplace. In fact, recreational use is resulting in eve r more deaths and injuries, a disturbing trend. In a period of just 22 years (from 1982 to 2004), the death toll from ATV accidents yearly rose from just 29 to a startling 470. There have been an incredible 800,000 injuries in the last decade.