Published on: March 16, 2026

This article focuses on practical steps employers can take to prevent struck-by incidents around mobile equipment.

By Michael Laycock

Identifying hazards and putting in safety controls on your worksite may feel like trying to solve a complex puzzle — with moving parts. But we’ve developed an easy-to-use tool that can help employers put the pieces together.

As WorkSafeBC’s occupational safety officer Shane Campbell explains, our fillable template helps you to identify where mobile equipment operates near workers, and then assess and control the risks.

“The real challenges for employers are to pinpoint the risks on busy, changing worksites, understand those risks, and then put in place ways to manage them,” Campbell says. “The template helps guide you through that process.”

Identify areas of concern

The template includes space to draw your worksite’s layout. Use it to show buildings, foot traffic areas, mobile equipment traffic routes, loading zones, etc. Then, circle every location where mobile equipment operates near workers on foot.

Make sure to include locations where:

• Tasks require workers to interact with mobile equipment
• Multiple contractors/personnel share a common work area
• The physical space is narrow or hard to move around in

Assess the tasks and what contributes to the risks

For each location you circled, use the template to:

• Make note of a location where mobile equipment operates close to workers on foot.
• Describe the task performed in that location.
• List factors that increase the risk of struck-by incidents (or have led to “near misses” in the past) for tasks performed in that location. These five factors are set out in the related guide to the template.
• Repeat the steps above for each location you circled.

As you complete these steps, engage your workers in this process. They can offer valuable input on preventing struck-by incidents.

Identify ways to control the risks

Next, identify controls to eliminate or minimize risks you’ve identified, and enter them on the template.

The most effective way to control these risks is to eliminate interactions between mobile equipment and workers. If you can’t eliminate all interactions, minimize the risk by using several types of controls that overlap and work together.

Elimination controls may include:

• Creating exclusion zones (e.g., vehicle-only areas) to eliminate interactions between pedestrians and mobile equipment

Engineering controls are the next most effective type of control. These are physical changes to the environment, tasks, equipment, or materials. Examples include:

• Using fencing to prevent access to exclusion zones
• Using barriers to create designated walkways
• Installing proximity sensors that signal an alarm or shut down mobile equipment when pedestrians get close to it
• Constructing raised walkways over busy interface locations

Administrative controls are the next most effective after engineering controls. These are changes to the way work is done. Examples include:

• Scheduling work so mobile equipment doesn’t operate when pedestrians are present
• Using radio communication between operators and pedestrians when workers are exposed to mobile equipment
• Educating and training workers on your policies and procedures and providing effective supervision during their work

Although personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last line of defence in this case, high-visibility vests can make workers more visible. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags worn by workers on foot can alert operators of mobile equipment nearby.

Develop, implement, and monitor the controls

Next, develop and implement controls. Managing the risk of struck-by incidents is an ongoing process. You’ll need to monitor the effectiveness of your controls and make improvements where needed.

For more information

Read our feature article, Pedestrian safety around mobile equipment to learn more about the effective controls two employers have installed on their worksites to prevent struck-by incidents.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of WorkSafe Magazine.

To read more or to subscribe, visit WorkSafe Magazine.