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Stantec <br /> Incident Summary <br /> April 1, 2009 <br /> Incident Summary — Southern California High Potential Near Miss . <br /> There was a traffic accident that occurred while our groundwater sampling technician and traffic <br /> control subcontractor were setting up traffic control at a busy intersection in Southern California. <br /> No one from Stantec or our subcontracting company was involved or injured. However, they <br /> could.have been injured if they were not following the proper safety practices and/or if the <br /> situation occurred under slightly different circumstances. Below is a description of what <br /> happened and the hazard recognition that was conducted before the work in the street <br /> resumed. <br /> A Yukon was travelling northbound on Norwalk Boulevard and ran a red light (per witnesses). A <br /> Magnum and a Taurus were beginning to travel westbound on Centralia as the light turned <br /> green. The Magnum driver looked before proceeding, saw the Yukon driver run the red light <br /> and therefore did not proceed into the intersection on the'green flight (good defensive driver <br /> technique). The driver of the Taurus however did not see the Tahoe, because he was blinded <br /> by the Magnum, and continued to cross Norwalk Boulevard, clipping the passenger side rear <br /> wheel well of the Yukon. The Yukon spun out of control into the center turn lane of Norwalk <br /> Boulevard, obtained traction, and drifted toward the right into the driver door of the traffic control <br /> truck, perpendicular to the direction of traffic (a site plan depicting the incident is shown in the <br /> first figure found below). <br /> Traffic control was being set up at the time of the incident (around.`noon). The cones that were <br /> set up at the time of the incident are delineated on the attached figure. Traffic control signs and <br /> cones were set up both north and south of the intersection per the Watch Manual and approved <br /> traffic control plan. The traffic control person was setting up'cones next to the Stantec vehicle <br /> when the collision occurred. The traffic control person was facing backwards (toward oncoming <br /> traffic and the accident) while setting up the cones. The traffic control person saw the accident <br /> as it was occurring and ran out of the roadway. The Stantec employee was in his vehicle north <br /> of the traffic control vehicle when the incident occurred. The traffic control truck was parked <br /> between the well to be monitored (work zone) and the oncoming traffic. A lighted traffic control <br /> light board was attached to the traffic control truck at the time of the incident. Photos of this <br /> accident can be found below. <br /> This type of incident is very hazardous because, although an accident can be anticipated, the <br /> nature of what actually occurs during the accident can not be accurately predicted; therefore, <br /> there are no proper safety precautions that will remove an i6dividual from harm's way. Please <br /> note the proximity of the groundwater monitoring well located in the picture found below <br /> (approximately three to four feet) from the accident. If the technician was performing work at <br /> this well at a slightly different time, there could have been a 7 serious injury. Given the <br /> uncontrollable nature of the risk, the most feasible solution to minimize the potential harm to <br /> workers is to either minimize the frequency of performing the'work or remove the work <br /> altogether. <br />