Toolbox Talk · ~5 minutes

# Backing Up & Spotters

Every year workers die in the blind spot of a vehicle driven by someone they'd worked beside for years. The truck doesn't know you're there — and half the time neither does the driver.

[Print the sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[All toolbox talks](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)

## How to run it

Read it through once, then talk it — don't recite it. Five minutes
at the start of the shift, crew standing where the work happens.
Under O. Reg. 213/91, s. 14(3)–(4), the talk is held by a
supervisor or a competent person the supervisor appoints — and the
sign-in sheet is what proves it happened.

## Talk through these points

- Assume the driver can't see you, because mostly they can't. Mirrors and cameras have gaps exactly where people stand.

- One spotter, agreed signals, always visible to the driver. If the driver loses sight of the spotter — stop. That's the whole rule.

- Walk around before backing. Kids' bikes, cribbing, an open trench — thirty seconds of walking beats any camera.

- High-vis worn properly, and eye contact with the operator before crossing equipment paths. A nod means seen.

- Phones down around moving equipment — a distracted pedestrian in a yard is as dangerous as a distracted driver.

- Plan deliveries so trucks pull through instead of backing where the crew works. The best backing incident is the one the site layout deleted.

## Ask the crew

- Where on this site do vehicles and people share space every day?

- What are our actual hand signals — show me stop.

- Can we set the next delivery up as a pull-through?

The answers are the real talk. If a question lands on a live hazard,
write it down and assign it a name and a date.

## Paper it

A talk without a record didn't happen, as far as anyone who asks is
concerned. Print these free:

[Toolbox talk sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[Daily vehicle inspection / DVIR](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=daily-vehicle-inspection#form-library)
[Visitor site orientation](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=visitor-site-orientation#form-library)

## A new talk every week.

The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.

[This week’s talk](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)
[Next: Lifting & Material Handling](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/manual-lifting-materials.html)

[Confined Space Awareness](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/confined-space-awareness.html)
[All 126 contractor forms](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools#form-library)

## Next, from Blue Crane

- [**Field Level Hazard Assessment**The form the crew fills in before the work starts](https://bluecraneworks.ca/field-level-hazard-assessment-flha.html)

- [**Safe Work Procedure template**Write the procedure this talk refers to](https://bluecraneworks.ca/safe-work-procedure-template.html)

- [**Document Control Systems**Sign-offs, certs and safety records, provable in under a minute](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/document-control.html)

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Source: https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/vehicle-backing-spotters