IHSA is promoting Struck-by Awareness Week from April 21 to 25, 2025, to help prevent struck-by incidents at workplaces across the province.

Ontario’s prevention system uses the term “struck-by” to describe the injuries that occur when workers are hit—or struck—by tools, materials, equipment, or vehicles. Just like falls, struck-by incidents are a leading cause of injuries and fatalities in the construction, transportation, electrical utilities, and aggregates industries. Struck-by incidents are also preventable.

Download IHSA’s Struck-by prevention toolkit (W017) to get started.

Why is it important to prevent struck-by incidents?

Preventing struck-by incidents can save lives and support the long-term health, safety, and mental-well-being of everyone at the workplace. From January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2023, there were 232 critical injuries and 25 fatalities resulting from vehicle and equipment struck-by incidents in Ontario construction workplaces. Struck-by incidents occur at the same rate in most construction subsectors, according to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development.

Some quick facts about struck-by injuries in Ontario:

• The most serious struck-by injuries occur when a worker is struck by a moving vehicle or piece of equipment.
• Incidents where a worker is struck by a flying or falling object, such as a nail or piece of falling equipment, are a leading cause of lost-time injuries and traumatic fatalities in the sectors that IHSA serves.
• The eyes are the part of the body that is injured most often when a worker is struck by an object.

In 2024, struck-by incidents continued to affect workplaces in the sectors that IHSA serves:

• 102 critical struck-by injuries
• 3 fatalities resulting from vehicle and equipment struck-by incidents in Ontario construction workplaces, including 1 worker who was struck by a passing vehicle, 1 worker who was struck by reversing equipment, and 1 worker who was struck by a piece of equipment that overturned
• 3 trench-related fatalities, including 2 workers who were killed when a trench collapsed and 1 worker who drowned
• 1 trench-related critical struck-by injury

How can you bring Struck-by Awareness Week to your workplace?

You can bring Struck-by Awareness Week to your workplace in a few different ways:

• Use IHSA’s Struck-by prevention toolkit (W017) and the schedule below to plan daily activities.
• Organize a site safety stand down with a focus on site-specific struck-by hazards and how to effectively control them.
• Plan a moment of silence to pay respect to the workers who did not return home after a workplace incident.