Preventing Backovers for Operators and Spotters

For construction equipment operators, truck drivers and spotters: when a reverse alarm or a signaling observer is required, how horns and pre-shift checks keep warning devices working, and how to work the backing plan safely.

This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.601(a), (b)(3), (b)(4) and (b)(14) and 29 CFR 1926.602(a)(1) and (a)(9). It is not an OSHA card or license and does not qualify anyone to operate equipment. These paragraphs contain no training requirement. Your employer must still make sure that motor vehicle equipment with an obstructed view to the rear is used only if it has a reverse signal alarm audible above the surrounding noise level or is backed up only when an observer signals that it is safe to do so; that earthmoving or compacting equipment with an obstructed view to the rear is not used in reverse gear unless a reverse signal alarm distinguishable from the surrounding noise level is in operation or an employee signals that it is safe to do so; that bidirectional machines have a horn, distinguishable from the surrounding noise level, maintained in an operative condition; and that vehicles in use are checked at the beginning of each shift, with all defects corrected before the vehicle is placed in service. Operators of powered industrial trucks also need the operator training required by 29 CFR 1926.602(d).