Everyone would agree that basic operation of heavy equipment should only be done by highly skilled operators who have a demonstrated ability to operate the equipment safely, not just for themselves, but for everyone they work with. Other workers should also be well trained in how to work around the heavy equipment operators, and how to stay clear. And everyone would agree that unsafe activities on and around the equipment can result in serious injury or death.

But what are some basic rules to follow? Often, training revolves around micromanaging specific situations, and we often forget the basic rules to follow when working on or around heavy equipment.

Just as even the greatest hitters in the game take batting practice before every game, sometimes, it’s essential to simply consider the most basic rules of the game.

1. As with any activity involving potentially dangerous equipment, good communication is an absolute necessity. Operators and ground-based workers should know where everyone is at all times. Everyone should wear highly visible vests, and all equipment should have a back up alarm system that can be easily heard by all workers in the area. And everyone, especially supervisors, should have access to communications equipment, such as two-way radios and/or cell phones.

2. All equipment should meet all government safety regulations with regard to rollover. That means the equipment should be designed to protect the operator should it tip over, and operators should be properly trained with regard to working on slopes or near open excavations.

3. All personnel working on or around such equipment shall at all times be wearing proper safety equipment, including hardhats, goggles, and hearing protection should noise conditions warrant.

4. Never jump on or off the equipment; operators should always use the three-point contact rule, meaning both feet and one hand or one foot and both hands, in contact with the ladder at all times.

5. Complete equipment service and maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, or even more frequently, for even greater safety. Periodic safety inspections should be done regularly by qualified personnel, especially with regard to steering and brake systems, and all operators should inspect the equipment before every shift, and promptly report any irregularities in operation.

Because injury accidents involving heavy equipment have a higher probability of causing a fatality, it is critical to keep in mind all aspects of your company’s safety rules and procedures whether you work on or near such heavy equipment.

A life – including yours — could depend on it.

According to Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail, which is referred to by everyone as CSST, last year there were 5,000 workplace accidents involving machines in Quebec, resulting in six deaths. Many of these accidents happened as employees were trying to repair or maintain machinery.

As a response, CSST has created a shocking new ad campaign that is so graphic that the television spot does not appear before 9 PM, so as not to upset small children, or adults with weak stomachs.

Check this out.

The first ad depicts what might occur when a worker turns on a breaker, after his machine fails to start. He presses the button, and a panicked supervisor runs at him and screams at him to turn off the machine. When the worker checks to see what the fuss is about, he realizes that he’s crushed the skull of a colleague, who was repairing the machine at the time. The end of the TV spot features a photo of the dead employee attached to the breaker, with the message, “Danger. Ma vie est en jeu.”

Thankfully, the campaign doesn’t end there. Later, during the same commercial break, a second CSST ad shows how the accident could have been easily avoided by safely padlocking the defective machine until it is fixed.

This is not the first time CSST has used such advertising. In 2005, they ran a similar ad, in which a worker loses an arm. In the wake of that campaign, workplace accidents in Quebec dropped 13 percent. In fact, Quebec has seen a steady decrease in the number of workplace accidents and deaths over the past several years, and the CSST hopes that the graphic advertising campaign will further reduce those numbers.

Though the graphic depiction of the accident has upset some viewers, one has to ask the question; if it saves lives, isn’t the risk to the sensibilities of a few worth the net cost, which is saving lives? The fact of the matter is, CSST research shows that such ads are effective. An opinion poll taken after the new ads began airing last month showed that 99 per cent of those polled said it made them think about safety on the job. Another 89 per cent said it would encourage employers to pay closer attention to accident prevention.

If the choice is being grossed out for a few minutes during a commercial break once in a while, or saving someone’s life, isn’t the choice easy? If the ads make people think about safety, then the net result is positive.

The government of Alberta has come up with that they feel is a clever idea to encourage young workers to develop a pattern of safe practices early on in their working lives, with their launch of a relatively gory and graphic new web site, www.bloodylucky.ca. The site is targeted to 15- to 19-year-old workers.

Introduced as part of a Work Safe Alberta campaign on October 29, the site contains six graphic videos of accidents in various workplaces, including a store, a restaurant, and a lumber yard, all of which are intended to show, in graphic detail, the serious injuries that can result from unsafe work practices. For example, in one video, a young grocery store worker momentarily takes his eye off the cheese slicer he’s operating to flirt with a young girl and loses a finger. In another, a worker in a lumber yard is badly injured, as his foot is run over by a forklift.

The graphic videos are intended to attract attention, of course, but the site is also full of safety tips, accident prevention advice, real stories of accidents that have actually happened to young people on the job, and it suggests questions every young worker can ask their bosses, such as “How can I be injured while doing my job?”; “What safety procedures do I need to follow?”: and “Do I need any safety gear?”

Between 2003 and 2007, nine workers between 15 and 19 years of age were fatally injured in Alberta. So far this year, another two have died, and disabling injuries among young workers are thought to be quite common.

Just as important as the statistics, however, is the fact that safe work practices have to become a habit, for everyone’s benefit. And the younger the habits begin, the easier it is to train them later, and the more sensible precautionary measures seem. And safe work habits are to everyone’s benefit.

The most common forklifts have a counterbalance and it works on the same principles as a teeter totter in a children’s play yard. A forklift is rated to lift a certain weight however people must understand that the weight capacity actually lowers as the load is lifted. So if you have to lift a heavy load higher then what the machine is rated…get a bigger machine!

Whenever I teach any drivers course we always end up talking about seatbelts, and in almost every course I teach there is one guy/girl in the class that stands up and says “if my Uncle had been wearing a seatbelt he would be dead today”! Now in the millions of collisions that happen in todays vehicles only a tiny tiny percentage the driver would have been saved by not wearing a belt. I am not will to risk what could happen in less then a second by not wearing one.

When the person tells me that they don’t wear one, I usually use them as an example and tell them to come to the front of the class and tell them to put their hands in their pockets and run as fast as they can into the wall. Now the usual response is …”no way…thats stupid”! And they are right…that is stupid…. but a collision follows the basic rules of

physics.

Rule #1:

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force

With the same speed and in the same direction,

Until it is stopped by something

It is the law of motion…so that means that if you are traveling at 100 kms per hour (the speed limit) and your vehicle is stopped by something (ie: a collision) your body will continue at the same speed…

The next part of this will be a little graphic:

1. At one-tenth of a second, the front bumper and grillwork collapse, the front tire wheelwells begin to wrap around the solid object.

2. The driver’s instinct is to stretch out his/her legs to brace for impact but they break at the knee joints.

3. The hood Crumples, rises, and smashes into the windshield.

4. The grillwork disintegrates and the rear wheels lift on the ground

5. The driver is sprung upright from the seat, his or her broken knees pressed against the dash

6. The steering wheel bending in the grip

7. The front of the vehicle is destroyed and motionless but the rear is still traveling forward at 100 kms per hour

8. Jagged steel punctures the drivers lungs and arteries

9. Your body has stopped moving on the outside but organs are still moving on the inside

10. Your heart is a strong pump but how will it do travelling at 100 km per hour and hitting your rib cage?

All because you wouldn’t wear a seatbelt!

You decide…is it worth it?

If all this could happen in 1 second…. wouldn’t it be worth it to teach your staff how to save that one second?

Take our 1 Second Course

CITY IS FINED
$100,000 FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY VIOLATION
A City was fined $100,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious foot injuries to an employee in Parks and Recreation.

A summer student was using a lawn mower to cut grass in a park when the mower got stuck in a rut. To get the mower out of the rut, the young worker pulled it from the front while a second student pushed the mower from behind. The mower’s blades continued to turn as they worked to free the machine. When the mower came out of the rut, it lurched forward and jumped up. Its exposed moving blades came in contact with the first student’s left foot. The blades cut through the student’s safety shoe causing severe lacerations to the foot, damaging tendons and nerves and breaking three toes. A Ministry of Labour investigation found a safety device known as the “dead man’s switch” on the mower had been tied down by white plastic ties resulting in the switch being disabled. If the switch had not been tied down, the blades would have stopped moving within about three seconds when the mower was not in use.

The City pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to provide training to the injured worker on the mower’s “dead man’s switch.” This was contrary to Section 25(2)(a) of the act.
In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
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