Quick answer
Most workers struck on foot are hit by vehicles that are backing up slowly,, not speeding. On a construction site, a vehicle with an obstructed rear view may reverse only with an alarm audible above the surrounding noise or an observer signaling that it is safe. Workers’ compensation usually bars a claim against the employer, but another company on the site can be separately liable.
Most vehicles that strike workers on foot are not traveling at highway speeds. They are backing into loading docks, repositioning in industrial yards, moving equipment around construction sites, or passing through plant gates.
The danger in these cases often comes from limited visibility. The driver may not see the worker behind the vehicle, and the worker may have little warning that the vehicle is moving.
Federal safety rules address that problem through requirements for visibility, alarms, spotters, traffic controls, and loading procedures. After an injury, those same rules can help establish whether a company failed to follow a known safety requirement.
On This Page
- Where workers get hit
- What these cases are built on
- What has to happen before a forklift enters a trailer
- In a road work zone, the traffic control plan is the rule
- Who answers for it, and the Texas rule that limits the property owner
- The evidence that disappears first
- What to do next
- Frequently asked questions
- Talk to a Houston work injury lawyer
Where workers get hit
In 2024, 557 people died from work injuries in Texas. Transportation incidents caused 242 of those deaths, accounting for 43 percent of the total and making transportation the state’s largest category of fatal workplace incidents.
Forty workers died after being struck by a motorized land vehicle while on foot. Only 21 of those deaths occurred on a roadway. The others happened away from public roads, including places such as industrial yards, plant entrances, loading areas, and other workspaces where vehicles and workers operate close together.
Another 16 deaths resulted from nonroadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles, while 22 workers died after being struck, caught, or compressed by powered equipment.
The national numbers show a similar problem. Pedestrian incidents involving motorized land vehicles rose 19 percent in 2024, from 310 deaths to 369, even as overall workplace fatalities fell 4 percent.
These conditions are common along the Houston Ship Channel. Terminal yards near SH-225 and SH-146, plant gates in Deer Park, Pasadena, and Baytown, and distribution centers throughout Harris County routinely place heavy vehicles and workers on foot in the same work areas, often during overnight or early-morning shifts.
What these cases are built on
Construction vehicles with an obstructed view to the rear cannot simply back up based on the driver’s judgment.
Under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.601(b)(4), a vehicle with an obstructed rear view may reverse only if it has “a reverse signal alarm audible above the surrounding noise level” or “an observer signals that it is safe to do so.”
Section 1926.602(a)(9) imposes a similar requirement for equipment such as loaders, dozers, rollers, and compactors.
This wording matters.
An alarm has to be audible above the surrounding noise level. It is not enough that the alarm works mechanically. An alarm that can easily be heard in a quiet parking lot may be much harder to hear in a terminal filled with diesel engines, refrigeration units, forklifts, and container-handling equipment.
The alternative is an observer who signals that backing is safe. That means more than having another employee somewhere nearby. The rule contemplates someone actively watching the movement and communicating with the operator.
These construction standards do not apply in the same way to warehouses and plants regulated as general industry. In those workplaces, forklift operations are governed by separate standards, while other recognized backing hazards may fall under the general duty clause in Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, which requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
What has to happen before a forklift enters a trailer
Loading docks present another predictable danger: a trailer can move while a forklift or worker is still inside it.
29 C.F.R. § 1910.178(k) requires specific precautions before a powered industrial truck enters a highway trailer. The truck’s brakes must be set, and wheel chocks must be placed under the rear wheels.
When a semitrailer is not attached to a tractor, fixed jacks may also be needed to support it and prevent the trailer from tipping. Rail cars require “positive protection” against movement while a dockboard or bridge plate is being used.
These requirements address problems that can happen quickly on a busy dock. A trailer can gradually move away from the dock as a forklift repeatedly enters and exits. A driver can pull away while loading is still underway. A dockplate can lose support as the trailer shifts.
Any of those failures can leave a worker caught between equipment, thrown from a loading dock, or struck by a moving vehicle.
In a road work zone, the traffic control plan is the rule
Texas recorded more than 28,000 work zone crashes in 2025. Those crashes killed 203 people, including seven roadside workers.
For workers on foot, one of the most important pieces of evidence after a work zone crash is the traffic control plan.
29 C.F.R. § 1926.201 establishes requirements for flagging operations, and the standards for flaggers and their garments incorporate Part 6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
After a serious crash, the question is not only what the written plan required. Investigators can also compare that plan with the conditions that actually existed: where cones and barriers were placed, whether lighting was adequate, where flaggers were stationed, and how traffic was being directed at the time.
Who answers for it, and the Texas rule that limits the property owner
When an employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, the employee generally cannot bring an ordinary negligence claim against that employer.
Texas Labor Code § 408.001(a) makes workers’ compensation the “exclusive remedy” of an employee covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Section 408.001(b) provides a narrow exception involving exemplary damages when an employee dies because of the employer’s gross negligence.
That rule applies to the employer. It does not automatically protect every other company involved in the worksite.
Industrial yards, docks, plants, and construction sites are often shared by several companies. A delivery carrier may enter property controlled by another company. A staffing company may supply workers to a warehouse. Maintenance contractors, trucking companies, equipment operators, and property owners may all be working in the same area.
When another company causes the injury, a claim against that company can be separate from the workers’ compensation claim and governed by ordinary Texas negligence law.
Claims against a property owner can be more complicated because of Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Chapter 95 can apply to claims brought by contractors, subcontractors, or their employees when an injury arises from the condition or use of an improvement the contractor was hired to construct, repair, renovate, or modify.
When Chapter 95 applies, § 95.003 generally prevents liability unless the property owner both exercised or retained control over the manner in which the work was performed, beyond simply ordering the work to start or stop, and had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition without adequately warning about it.
Chapter 95 does not apply to every injury that occurs on commercial or industrial property.
A plant employee struck by an outside delivery truck in a yard, for example, or a warehouse worker hit by a vehicle at a loading dock may fall outside Chapter 95. In those cases, ordinary premises liability and negligence rules may apply instead.
Determining whether Chapter 95 applies can substantially change what an injured worker has to prove.
The evidence that disappears first
A crash inside an industrial property often produces a very different record from a highway collision.
Texas law requires a peace officer to prepare a CR-3 crash report when the officer investigates certain collisions in the regular course of duty. But many incidents inside plants, warehouses, terminals, and private yards are never investigated by a police officer.
The first written account may instead be the employer’s own incident report.
Other evidence may exist, but much of it can disappear quickly:
- Yard and loading-dock camera footage, which may be automatically overwritten within days or weeks
- Telematics and event data from forklifts, yard tractors, and other vehicles involved in the incident
- ELD and dashcam records from a delivery or trucking company
- Gate and interchange records showing which driver and carrier entered the property and when
- Traffic control plans, job safety analyses, and training records showing how work was supposed to be performed
- OSHA inspection records, including any citations or abatement documents issued after the incident
Much of this information is controlled by a company other than the injured worker’s employer. It may not be preserved unless someone specifically requests it.
What to do next
- Report the injury to your employer in writing. A hospital visit does not replace workplace reporting requirements. Texas generally gives an employee 30 days to report a work injury.
- Explain exactly how the injury happened to the treating provider. Identify the vehicle or equipment involved and where on the property the incident occurred. Early medical records can become important evidence later.
- Write down what you remember while it is still fresh. Record the vehicle, the company name displayed on it, the direction it was moving, whether a backup alarm sounded, and whether anyone was acting as a spotter.
- Identify the other companies working on the property. Gate logs, bills of lading, delivery paperwork, and contractor records may show who was present.
- Preserve video and electronic records quickly. A written preservation demand can prevent relevant camera footage and electronic data from being deleted through routine retention systems.
- Keep the filing deadline in mind. Most Texas personal injury lawsuits are subject to a two-year limitations period under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Claims involving cities, counties, public ports, or other governmental entities may also have much shorter notice requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue anyone if my employer has workers’ compensation?
In most cases, workers’ compensation prevents an employee from bringing an ordinary negligence claim against a subscribing employer.
That restriction does not automatically apply to another company that caused the injury. If a delivery driver, outside contractor, equipment operator, or another company’s employee caused the incident, there may be a separate claim against that company.
Does OSHA require a backup alarm on every vehicle?
No.
On construction sites, a vehicle with an obstructed rear view generally needs either a reverse alarm that can be heard above surrounding noise or an observer who signals that backing is safe.
Different standards apply in general industry. Forklift operations are governed by powered industrial truck regulations, while other recognized vehicle hazards may be addressed through the general duty clause.
There was no police report. Does that hurt the claim?
The absence of a police report does not prevent a claim, but it can remove one independent source of evidence.
Incidents on private industrial property often do not produce a CR-3 because no peace officer investigates the crash. In those cases, the evidence may come from employer incident reports, surveillance footage, vehicle data, work records, and witness statements.
That makes early evidence preservation particularly important.
The truck that hit me belonged to another company. Who is responsible?
Responsibility can depend on who employed the driver, who controlled the vehicle, what the driver was doing at the time, and the relationship between the companies involved.
A delivery or drayage carrier is separate from the company operating the worksite and generally carries its own commercial insurance.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Most Texas negligence claims have a two-year filing deadline under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003.
Workers’ compensation claims follow separate deadlines, beginning with the requirement to report a work injury to the employer within 30 days in most cases. Claims involving a city, county, public port, or another governmental entity may require written notice within a much shorter period.
Talk to a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer
When a worker on foot is struck by a slow-moving truck or piece of equipment, the most important evidence is often controlled by the companies operating the site: surveillance footage, vehicle data, gate records, traffic control plans, training documents, and equipment records.
Those records can show which companies were present, who controlled the vehicle, what safety rules applied, and whether the precautions required for that work area were actually being followed.
A serious incident at a plant, loading dock, industrial yard, or construction site may involve more than an internal workplace investigation. It may also support a construction or industrial injury claim against a company other than the injured worker’s employer.
The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian have served the Houston community since 2004. Hilda Sibrian serves clients throughout the Houston metropolitan area, including Sugar Land, Missouri City, La Porte, Beaumont, Pasadena, The Woodlands, The Heights, Bellaire, Kingwood, Baytown, and Houston. Call our office today or fill out our online contact form for a free consultation.
