Highway Construction Worker Dies After Being Struck While Crossing Roadway

A 55-year-old male construction worker (victim) died of injuries sustained after being struck by a vehicle on an interstate highway. The victim was part of a two-person crew assigned to install steel pipes beneath the interstate highway. The victim and a coworker used a boring machine to drill holes beneath the highway. The boring machine was located in the ditch on the east side of the northbound lanes of the interstate highway. The coworker monitored the gauges and instruments of the boring machine at the time of the incident. The victim crossed the highway lanes to mark the exit location of the hole currently being drilled. According to witnesses and emergency personnel who responded to the scene, the victim was not wearing a high visibility safety vest. When the victim crossed the highway and was near the middle of the left lane, two vehicles traveling in that lane approached him. The driver of the second vehicle momentarily looked to the right, toward the boring machine. When he looked forward again, the vehicle ahead of him had moved over one lane to the right and he saw the victim standing directly in front of him. The driver of the second vehicle turned his vehicle to the right and applied his brakes. The victim was struck by the skidding vehicle and landed in the ditch along the left shoulder of the highway. Emergency medical personnel were called and arrived at the scene within a few minutes. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he died approximately two hours later. MN FACE investigators concluded that, to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed:
employers should ensure that employees wear high visibility vests or garments while walking and working on roadways
employers should schedule roadway construction work during non-peak traffic periods