Safety Alert – Towing Safety
On June 11th, 2018, one of our crews experienced a fishtailing trailer as they were driving out to the jobsite, resulting in loss of vehicle control and a minor collision with a soundwall. Upon the investigation, it was determined that the crew was towing a trailer over the towing capacity of the vehicle they were driving. It is the driver’s responsibility to determine if the vehicle is capable of towing the trailer, even if they were assigned the vehicle by the management, and their job requires to tow a trailer. If a vehicle is not capable of towing the load – the driver must request a different vehicle! Situations in the field can change rapidly, and the management often has to make crew and vehicle assignments on the go; while we do our best to avoid errors, it takes a team effort to keep everyone safe, and the driver of the vehicle is the final step to ensure crew safety during transport. A tow safety training will be provided to all crew foremen in the next few weeks to further ensure our competence & safety.
