PLT/Attachments/TBT-PLT-059

Plant Person Interface

Plant & Equipment › Attachments › Plant Person Interface

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Plant person interface (PPI) refers to any situation where pedestrian workers interact with operating mobile plant.
PPI incidents are the single largest cause of construction worker deaths in the UK year after year.
CDM 2015 Regulation 36 specifically requires sites to manage traffic routes to separate vehicles from pedestrians.
The risk exists during every activity where ground workers share space with moving excavators, dumpers, or lorries.
Key risk moments include reversing manoeuvres, slewing operations, loading, and plant travelling between work areas.
Physical segregation using barriers, defined walkways, and separate routes is the most effective control measure.
Where full segregation is not possible, a planned safe system of work with banksmen must be implemented.
Complacency is a major contributing factor — workers become accustomed to working near plant and underestimate risk.
All PPI arrangements must be briefed at induction and reinforced at every task-specific pre-start briefing.
Technology such as proximity warning systems and camera systems support but do not replace physical segregation.

Prevent deaths	Being struck or crushed by plant is almost always fatal — there is no safe speed for a collision between a machine and a person.
HSE priority	Plant person interface is an HSE strategic priority — inspectors specifically assess PPI controls during every site visit.
Everyone's duty	Both operators and ground workers share responsibility — operators must watch for people and workers must respect zones.

Don't

Separate pedestrian routes from plant routes using physical barriers wherever possible.
Plan and brief the PPI arrangements at every pre-start meeting before work begins.
Make positive eye contact with the operator before entering any plant working area.
Wear high-visibility clothing appropriate to the site conditions at all times on site.
Appoint trained banksmen for all operations where pedestrians work near mobile plant.
Use designated crossing points to move between work areas separated by haul routes.
Stop and reassess if a planned segregation arrangement breaks down during the task.
Report every near miss involving plant and pedestrians — they are warnings of fatalities.
Use radios to communicate positions between operators and ground workers continuously.
Review PPI arrangements whenever the site layout, work sequence, or plant types change.

DON'T walk through a plant operating area without confirming the safe system with the operator.
DON'T assume an operator can see you — blind spots exist on every machine regardless of mirrors.
DON'T take shortcuts across haul roads or through active excavation zones to save time.
DON'T rely on reversing alarms alone as an effective warning — they create alert fatigue.
DON'T allow familiarity with daily plant movements to reduce your awareness of the danger.
DON'T store materials, skips, or welfare units where they force pedestrians into plant routes.
DON'T wear earphones, hoods, or anything that reduces your hearing near operating plant.
DON'T allow new workers into plant areas without a specific PPI briefing for that zone.
DON'T stand in the swing arc of a slewing excavator even during breaks or conversations.
DON'T dismiss near-miss reports — each one represents a potential fatality that was narrowly avoided.

See also: Plant and Pedestrian Segregation | Reversing and Banksman Procedures

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