WHITE PAPER

SPEEDOMETERS IN HAULAGE EQUIPMENT ON MARINE TERMINALS

Submitted by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union

Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH)

January 19-20, 2010 Meeting

Introduction

Currently there is no OSHA regulation that explicitly requires marine
terminal companies to install and maintain functional speedometers in
haulage equipment.  In the absence of such a regulation, many companies
cover up speedometers or instruct manufacturers to not install them in
haulage equipment, including both container handling and
non-container-handling vehicles.  These practices have caused—and if
not corrected will continue to cause—marine terminal work-related
injuries and fatalities.  These practices also violate existing OSHA
regulations.  

There is no question that marine terminal traffic accidents are a
serious problem and that excessive speed is a major contributing factor
to such accidents.  It is the legal obligation of marine terminal
companies to ensure that vehicle operators are able to, and do, follow
posted speed limits and written traffic rules.  Companies fail to meet
this obligation when they do not provide operators with vehicles
equipped with speedometers.  An OSHA regulation requiring that companies
provide speedometers in all haulage equipment would decrease the risk of
traffic-related injuries and fatalities.  It would also ensure that
marine terminal companies comply with existing OSHA regulations.  

Discussion

Marine Terminal Traffic Accidents Are A Serious Problem, And Excessive
Speed Is A Major Contributing Factor To These Accidents

Traffic accidents are a serious problem in marine terminals, with their
fast-paced operations and large, heavy equipment.  Indeed, over half of
all work-related fatalities that occurred in marine terminals in the
U.S. from 2005 through 2008 were caused by traffic accidents, including
a total of twenty-seven traffic-related fatalities during that four year
period.  Speed is the major contributing factor in many of these fatal
accidents.  For example, in one traffic incident, a forklift operator
was killed when he fell out of a tipping forklift and was crushed by the
rollover bar.  The operator made a sharp turn at excessive speed, which
caused the forklift to turn over.  In another accident where speed was a
major contributing factor, a straddle carrier operator was killed when
the vehicle tipped over and crushed him.  The operator, who was using
the carrier to transfer containers, was traveling at a high rate of
speed with a loaded container.  When the carrier started crossing
railroad tracks located in a curve in the road, the vehicle tipped over.
 These are just a couple illustrative examples of the type of
speed-related traffic accidents that occur every year at marine
terminals.  

Companies Fail To Meet Their Obligation To Ensure That Speed Limits Are
Observed When They Do Not Provide Vehicles Equipped With Functional
Speedometers

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA” or “Act”) already
requires that “[t]he employer shall direct motor vehicle operators to
comply with any posted speed limits and other traffic control signs or
signals, and written traffic instructions [in marine terminals].” 
Employers must ensure that employees know and follow applicable OSHA
vehicle requirements.  Companies that do not install and/or maintain
functional speedometers in all power-operated equipment fail to comply
with these OSHA mandates.  

Maximum speed limits at marine terminals have been set and posted by
port authorities with the goal of helping individuals avoid traffic
accidents and prevent or reduce work-related fatalities and injuries. 
Port Tariffs—which are issued by port authorities and provide the
official rules and regulations governing ports—typically include
provisions governing safe driving speed requirements.  For example, the
San Diego Unified Port District Tariff requires that no person operate a
vehicle in or around the marine terminal area at a greater rate of speed
than ten miles per hour, unless posted otherwise.  Similarly, the Port
of Long Beach Tariff prohibits vehicle operators from driving at a rate
of speed greater than ten miles per hour, unless otherwise posted.  

By denying vehicle operators the ability to ascertain their speeds,
companies prevent their employees from following posted speed limit
signs and the written traffic rules issued by port authorities, in
direct violation of the Act.  Moreover, these limits were set because it
is dangerous to drive in excess of the posted speeds.  By requiring that
marine terminal workers operate vehicles that are not equipped with
speedometers, companies not only expose operators to personal liability
for violating the law, but expose them and other people in their
proximity to the risk of substantial harm and death.  This is a
violation of OSHA’s General Duty Clause.

The General Duty Clause, 29 C.F.R. §1903.1, provides that every
employer must “furnish to his employees employment and a place of
employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or
are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” 
In order to comply with their general duty to furnish a place of
employment free from recognized hazards, companies must ensure that
vehicle operators operate haulage equipment in a safe manner.  Companies
fail to comply with this regulation when they cover up speedometers or
instruct manufacturers not to install them.  The Act also provides that
“[v]ehicles used to transport employees within a terminal shall be
maintained in safe working order and safety devices shall not be removed
or made inoperative.”  By failing to provide speedometers in all
vehicles, companies are also in violation of this safety mandate.

Employers that “cover up” speedometers in vehicles that include the
device at the time of purchase may also be in violation of existing OSHA
regulations that prohibit modifications to powered industrial trucks
when those regulations might affect vehicle safety.  29 C.F.R.
§1917.43(b)(1) provides:

After October 3, 1983, modifications, such as adding counterweights,
that might affect the vehicle's capacity or safety shall not be
performed without either the manufacturer's prior written approval or
the written approval of a professional engineer experienced with the
equipment who has consulted with the manufacturer, if available. . . . 

Similarly, 29 C.F.R. §1910.178(A)(4) provides: “Modifications and
additions [to PITs] which affect capacity and safe operation shall not
be performed by the customer or user without manufacturers prior written
approval.”  Therefore, to the extent that marine terminal operators
cover speedometers without prior written approval from the vehicle
manufacturer or a professional engineer, they act in violation of these
OSHA regulations as well.  

An OSHA Regulation Requiring Inclusion of Speedometers In Haulage
Equipment Would Ensure That Companies Provide Marine Terminal Workers
With A Safe Working Environment And Comply With Current OSHA Standards

Speed is currently a major contributing factor in traffic-related
injuries and fatalities.  Requiring that all haulage equipment be
equipped with speedometers will help individuals avoid traffic accidents
and prevent or reduce work-related injuries and fatalities caused by
excessive speed, because it will allow them to ascertain the speeds at
which they drive.  Moreover, a requirement that speedometers be
installed and maintained would ensure compliance with existing OSHA
regulations.  As discussed above, the Act already demands compliance
with all posted traffic signs and written traffic rules.  In the absence
of speedometers, such compliance is impossible.  

Compliance with the proposed regulation would not place an undue burden
on the companies required to comply.  This is particularly true in light
of the fact that the installation of speedometers is an available option
in all vehicles.  It is the ILWU's  understanding that unlike West Coast
port employers, employers in East Coast ports take no objection to
ensuring that all haulage equipment contain speedometers.  The Union
understands further that those employers that object to installing
speedometers is based on unwarranted concerns that doing so would
decrease the rate at which work is completed.  That position essentially
amounts to a concern that compliance with already-established safety
standards and regulations (the posted speed limits and written traffic
rules) decreases efficiency and safety considerations can be
disregarded.  The ILWU's position is not that marine terminal speed
limits should be lowered, but only that they should be observed in the
interest of worker safety and compliance with current safety standards. 
A regulation requiring maintenance of functional speedometers in all
haulage equipment would achieve this result.

	 Traffic Safety In Marine Terminals, OSHA Guidance 3337-07, United
States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration,
2007, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3337-07-2007-English-07192007.html"
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3337-07-2007-English-07192007.html .

	 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports annually on the number of
marine terminal work-related fatalities and the number of those total
fatalities that are traffic-related.  In 2005, eight out of 15
fatalities were traffic-related.  In 2006, three out of nine fatalities
were traffic-related.  In 2007, eight out of 11 fatalities were
traffic-related.  In 2008, eight out of 14 fatalities were traffic
related. At the time this paper was written, data was not yet available
for 2009.  See Fatal occupational injuries by industry and event or
exposure, All United States, 2005, Bureau of Labor Statistics, available
at   HYPERLINK "http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0205.pdf"
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0205.pdf ; Fatal occupational
injuries by industry and event or exposure, All United States, 2006,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0214.pdf"
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0214.pdf ; Fatal occupational
injuries by industry and event or exposure, All United States, 2007,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0223.pdf"
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0223.pdf ; Fatal occupational
injuries by industry and event or exposure, All United States, 2008,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0232.pdf"
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0232.pdf .  

	 The ILWU-PMA Pacific Coast Marine Safety Committee jointly created
“Longshore Safety Tip” publication, attached hereto, demonstrates
that tip over accidents can be caused by excessive speeds.  The joint
Committee, which includes Pacific Maritime Association (“PMA”)
representatives, recognizes that observing posted speed limits can
prevent tip over accidents.

	 Traffic Safety In Marine Terminals, OSHA Guidance 3337-07, United
States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration,
2007, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3337-07-2007-English-07192007.html"
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3337-07-2007-English-07192007.html .

	 Data maintained by the PMA provide additional examples of accidents
caused by operating vehicles at speeds above the posted limits.  For
example, “due to excessive speed,” a semi-tractor tipped over,
causing the driver to suffer injury.  In another incident, a vehicle was
“traveling too fast,” and the operator was unable to stop the
vehicle from colliding with a pickup truck.  And in yet another example,
a vehicle operator “attempted to turn a corner at high speed,” and
suffered back and shoulder injury when the vehicle tipped over.  Similar
examples abound.

	 29 C.F.R. 1917.44(d); Traffic Safety In Marine Terminals, OSHA
Guidance 3337-07.

	 Traffic Safety In Marine Terminals, OSHA Guidance 3337-07.

	 The Port Of San Diego California Tariff No. 1-G, Effective Nov. 2008,
Item No. 0345, available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.portofsandiego.org/maritime/tariff-info.html"
http://www.portofsandiego.org/maritime/tariff-info.html .

	 Port of Long Beach – Tariff No. 004, Issued Jan. 2010, Item No. 732,
available at   HYPERLINK "http://www.polb.com/economics/port_tariff.asp"
http://www.polb.com/economics/port_tariff.asp .

	 It is not uncommon for an employee to receive a citation from local
law enforcement or port authorities for exceeding posted speed limits,
despite the fact that the vehicle the employee was driving at the time
of citation was not equipped with a speedometer.  Employees are also
subject to workplace discipline for speeding.  Indeed, it is not
uncommon for vehicle operators to face employer disciplinary charges for
speeding, which can lead to job loss.

	 Employers can be cited for violating the General Duty Clause if there
is a recognized hazard and they do not take reasonable steps to reduce
or abate the hazard.

	  29 C.F.R. 1917.44(n).

	 The ILWU has no knowledge as to whether marine terminal operators who
engage in this practice obtain the requisite prior written approval.

	 Avoiding accidents also can increase productivity at terminals and
help companies to limit their accident-related liabilities.

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