After incidents, a common reaction is: “The operator should have seen him.”
But equipment operators do not see the worksite the way pedestrians think they do.
Heavy equipment has visibility gaps:
- structural pillars
- bucket obstruction
- machine height differences
- depth perception distortion
- environmental dust and lighting
Even experienced operators depend on one thing:
early recognition
If the human form is recognized early, operators react quickly and correctly almost every time.
If recognition is delayed, no amount of experience can overcome stopping distance.
This is why the Hi-Visibility Pyramid places visibility before training.
Training improves decisions.
Visibility makes decisions possible.