Health & Safety
A guide to the safe use of telehandlers in construction has been launched in the UK by the Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group, an industry group charged with providing industry advice on the use of equipment in the UK's construction sector.
The 86-page Safe Use of Telehandlers in Construction guide has been written in response to the number of accidents involving telehandlers - with 765 reported serious incidents in the last 10 years - and because telehandlers are becoming larger, with lifting heights of up to 22 m.
"The idea that it's a little lift truck, and that you can apply little lift truck mentality, no longer applies", said Kevin Minton, senior manager at the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), who was involved in creating the safe use guide.
According to Tim Watson, the CPA technical consultant who authored the guidance, three key issues are the planning and management of telehandler operations; training assessments; and familiarisation with machines.
"It's terribly important that we don't just concentrate on just one area. We need to focus on all three", he said, speaking at the launch of the document at the Executive Hire Show (EHS) in Coventry.
He said a lot of accident occurred when telehandlers were working with suspended loads. "It is most important - when you are handling suspended loads the operational management has to go up a notch", said Mr Watson.
In addition to planning of telehandler operations, the guide provides clear advice on issues such as lifting personnel, stating that non-integrated personnel baskets should not be used for planned tasks on site. "We had a lot of debate about this one and in the end we came down to a very definite statement", said Mr Watson.
The safe use guide also goes into some details about the importance of using the correct tyres. Mr Watson cited the case of one contractor who found that 30% of its telehandlers were fitted with inappropriate or non-matching tyres.
Colin Wood, managing director of the CPA, said there was a strong message for rental companies and end users; "Telehandlers are the Swiss army knife of the site...and they are the biggest bit of kit that is rented without an operator. That makes it critical to have dedicated operators.
"They get used as a glorified dumper - and that's when the problems come. Wherever possible, they need to have dedicated drivers."
The publication was prepared by a working group including representatives from the CPA, BITA (British Industrial Truck Association), Merlo, JLG, JCB, Hewden and Select Plant.
The publication can be freely downloaded the CPA and BITA websites at www.cpa.uk.net/p/Telehandlers/ and www.bita.org.uk.
The new document complements the pocket-sized BITA safety booklet Operator's Safety Code for Rough Terrain Lift Trucks (the ‘red book'), which is also offered via the BITA website.
Source: www.khl.com
The Health & Safety obligations of the owner and hirer of a machine under the Corporate Manslaughter & Homicide Acts 2007 include:
Directors and their companies can now be charged with
– ‘Gross Breach of Duty of Care’
- ‘Disregard for life’
- ‘Recklessness - void of any assessment for safety of operator’
THE SOLUTION EXISTS:
ONLY AUTHORISED USERS OPERATE KOSRAN SECURED MACHINES.
This Financial Times article published on February 15th 2010
Explains what could happen to you and your company.
Click here to view the PDF »
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Clampdown on unsafe construction sites
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is planning a month-long intensive inspection initiative aimed at reducing death and injury on Britain's construction sites, particularly during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities.
During 2009/10, 42 workers died while working in construction and almost three-quarters of these deaths occurred while they were on refurbishment, repair and maintenance jobs. Because of this, these activities will be the main focus of the latest inspections by the HSE.The unannounced visits will begin on 14 February. Last year inspectors visited 2,014 sites and 2,414 contractors. During these visits, inspectors issued more than 350 prohibition notices to stop dangerous work.
A great deal of these notices related to working from height. Falls from height remains one of the most common causes of fatalities and major injuries in the construction sector - with more than five incidents recorded every single day.
Philip White, chief inspector of construction, HSE, said: "A lax attitude to health and safety in one of the more dangerous industries is not acceptable, especially when many of the incidents are completely avoidable by taking commonsense actions and precautions.
"As we've demonstrated in previous years, we will not hesitate to take action if we find poor practice that is putting the lives of workers at risk."
Source: link2portal.com
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The articles below provided by PP Construction Safety via the CPA outline the prosecution of two trained operators whose actions lead to the fatality of a co-worker.
Both of these cases must make all properly trained plant operators alert to the fact that both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are likely to prosecute when operators' unsafe actions lead to death or serious injury.
Plant operator guilty of manslaughter
Jury finds telehandler operator responsible for death of co-worker. The operator of a telescopic handler on a Kier Western site in Plymouth has been found guilty of causing death by gross negligence. Nigel Herring was the operating a Manitou telehandler in September 2007 when the machine tipped causing the skip it was carrying to strike 20-year-old Reece French causing fatal injuries. The prosecution stated that Mr Herring was trained to operate the machine and breached five ‘golden rules’:
- the telehandler stabilisers were not deployed
- the load was raised above two co-workers
- the machine was moving forward with the boom extended
- the forks were not adjusted to fit skip securing sleeves and
- audible and visual alarms were not acted upon
Character references for Mr Herring called him a ‘gentle giant’ who would have swapped places with victim ‘in a heartbeat.’ Mr Herring will be sentenced in two weeks...
Lift truck operator prosecuted
A second forklift operator is convicted after workplace death. A forklift truck driver whose actions contributed to the death of a colleague has today been fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,000. The prosecution follows an incident at haulage company Joda Freight on 14 March 2006. The court heard that operator his colleague to use the forks of the truck he was driving as an impromptu lift to access pallets on the second deck of a two-tier lorry. He slipped and fell from the forklift, sustaining serious injuries that required prolonged treatment in hospital. He died two months later in hospital from complications.
HSE Inspector Paul Yeadon commented
“Mr Mason will forever live with the guilt of his momentary disregard for safety. Forklifts are extremely common and invaluable pieces of machinery. However, they also pose a serious risk if they are used for anything other than their intended purpose, or if operators fail to follow the required safe-working procedures. We hope that this tragic incident will serve as a lesson to all employers and employees who work with or near forklifts.”
This prosecution follows recent manslaughter proceedings initiated by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following a death involving a fork lift truck on a construction site. In both cases a trained operator has been prosecuted after unsafe use of a forklift lift contributed to the death of a co-worker. It is not clear from the facts available why one individual was charge with manslaughter whilst the other faced proceedings under the HSW Act Section 7. However, both cases must make all properly trained plant operators alert to the fact that both the CPS and HSE are likely to prosecute where operator unsafe actions lead to death or serious injury.
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HSE Safety Notice - broken or missing side windows on Telehandlers
The HSE have recently issued a Safety Notice following a recent fatal accident where the operator of a telehandler was leaning through the broken right side window aperture, when he was crushed and fatally injured by the descending boom.
The Safety Notice requires the following actions:
If the side glass screen is broken or missing the telehandler should be removed from use until the screen has been replaced.
Machine owners, users and operators should be warned of the dangers of operating their machines with the side screen broken or missing, and the importance of reporting such damage as soon as it occurs.
Users are also reminded of the importance of carrying out daily checks of the condition of their trucks, and that the condition of the cab windows is part of these inspections.
The full HSE Safety Notice can be seen here »
CPA are currently working with the Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group on a project aimed at reducing accidents involving telehandlers. More information on the Plant Safety Group can be found on the CPA website at here»
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