Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in work zone · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Pioneer Construction Company, Inc., 3298 Lake Ariel Highway, HONESDALE, PENNSYLVANIA 18431
on — Fractures, affecting the heel(s).
Final narrative
An employee was walking backward, cleaning a roadway with a flat shovel. A rubber-tracked excavator, also backing up, approached the employee. Its tracks caught the employee's pants, which caused the employee to fall forward. The machine then caught the edge of the employee's foot. The employee suffered bruising to both feet and an ankle, as well as a bone chip on the front of the right heel.
An employee was helping lift a 10-foot ductile iron pipe section into a trench box. The pipe came loose from the clamp, bounced sideways, and struck the employee, causing tooth loss and soft tissue injury to an arm.
A temporary employee was setting up a roadway construction zone. They were dropping cones from the back of a pickup truck. One of the cones fell and the employee exited the pickup truck to straighten the cone. The pickup truck then backed up and struck the employee causing rib and pelvis fractures.
An employee was directing traffic and performing clean-up activities at a site they were preparing for asphalt pavement. The employee was struck by a skid loader that was traveling in reverse, resulting in fractures to the left leg and hip. The employee was hospitalized.
A traffic control employee was assisting a homeowner who was backing out of their driveway when they were struck by an excavator traveling in reverse. The employee sustained a hip and foot fracture.
An employee was flagging for traffic control when he was struck by a truck that was backing up. The employee sustained a punctured lung and broken ribs.
An employee was working in a work zone in a double left lane closure. A vehicle backed into the employee, striking the backs of the employee's knees. The employee developed leg swelling and was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237110)
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
On October 7, 2025, employees were conducting trenching operations for the installation of a new sewer line system. The excavator's bucket was detached and put inside the trench as it was being exchanged for a different-sized bucket. An employee entered the trench with a shovel to move some dirt located at the front end of the pipe. The excavator bucket shifted and slid, striking the employee s right foot and trapping it against the ground. The employee sustained a fractured right tibia.
Employees were working to dislodge a large truck that was stuck in a rut using tow straps and a front-end loader with the bucket removed. An employee connected the straps to the loader and truck and another employee slowly engaged the loader to close the coupler. The injured employee's arm became caught in a pinch point. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured arm.
An employee was lifting a piece of 30-inch line stopping equipment using a jack screw. A lifting eye weld snapped and the load dropped. The end of the jack screw then landed on the employee's heel and crushed it. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.