Page 35 - Hub-4 Magazine Issue 61
P. 35

 Mentor Training
 Effectively Managing Mobile Plant Equipment
 The number of serious injuries reported to the HSE involving mobile plant equipment continues to increase with over 10% of fatalities caused by contact with machinery according to 2018/2019 RIDDOR figures, but what is the reasoning behind this? Is it due to operators not using equipment correctly, have they received inadequate training, have experienced operators become complacent, do they lack respect for site rules and procedures or is there just a lack of competent supervision onsite?
We believe that all the above at some point contribute to an accident or incident onsite. As the largest provider of equipment operator training in the UK, Mentor looks at one of the above contributing factors – Management and Supervisor knowledge – and suggest opportunities for change.
Creating a good, safe and effective operation must come from higher management. Managers and supervisors must lead by example and drive positive strong attitudes onsite; being visible and approachable is key. As a manager or a supervisor, you need to have grounding knowledge of your complete site operation but when it comes to the operation of mobile plant, does every manager and supervisor feel comfortable to review and monitor the operation of such equipment?
2) Check your knowledge and that of your supervisors
Are you and your supervisors confident that they understand how to effectively supervise and manage the use of mobile plant operators? If the answer is no and you are not confident that poor operation could firstly be recognised and then remedied, seek further support from an expert in the field - this could be your training provider, the equipment manufacturer or your SHEQs team.
3) Be visible
This is not just you as a manager but also your supervisors and importantly your rules, procedures and expectations. Make them clear to see and easy to understand and follow – make sure everyone knows what is required and expected to ensure paramount site safety.
4) Question?
Do you know what equipment you have onsite and how it is used? Does it have multiple attachments to complete different tasks? Is everyone trained to use the attachments? Is there a mobile plant standard and policy for the business and does this standard cover all types of equipment? How do you segregate mobile plant from other site traffic? How do you make people aware of this? What do you do for contractors either operating plant on your site or working in the vicinity of it?
There are many questions that you should be asking to feel confident that your site in functioning to maximum safety and efficiency.
5) Operator Training
Make sure operators receive accredited training. It sounds simple but all too often we hear of unrealistic course lengths, inappropriate conversions from one equipment type to another and varying delegate to instructor ratios. Always ensure you have plans in place to cover the three types of training: basic, job- specific and familiarisation. It is important to update site specific training to your policies and familiarises your operatives when equipment and processes change.
6) Be prepared to make changes
Quite often following an incident, it has been found that several near misses in similar circumstances have occurred previously, but then have been overlooked. This is something that must be addressed to help minimise the number of accidents that happen in the industry – never be concerned about challenging unsafe and poor behaviour onsite. In some cases the individuals may need further training and support but may not feel comfortable asking.
At Mentor the service to our customers does not start and end at the delivery of training, our team are keen to ensure that our customers have the support that they need pre and post training. As part of our bid to reduce accidents and incidents in the workplace and provide relevant and high-quality training to our customers, we have worked closely with experts in the field to develop training courses that do exactly this including Managing Mobile Plant Operations.
For more information about how we can implement our Managing Mobile Plant Operations course into your business, speak to our expert training team today! Call us on 01246 386900.
 In some cases, most certainly not. There is an increasing recognition of the importance of training operatives to use mobile plant to an accredited standard, relevant to a specific industry and operation but, once they are trained, who then cultivates and promotes consistent safe and effective operation?
Even the best-trained and most safety-conscious teams are at risk if managers and supervisors aren’t equipped to proactively encourage best practice and recognise where complacency may have started to creep in. So how can Managers and Supervisors better prepare themselves to manage mobile plant?
1) Understand the law
As a manager and supervisor – it is important to understand how regulation effects and applies to you. In particular Section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act – Offenses Due to Fault of Other Person. This law emphasises that although the manager may not be in the driver’s seat and operating the equipment their self, they must action anything they deem as unsafe e.g. faulty equipment. If an operator has an accident and it was found that faulty equipment was overlooked by a manager, the manager could then face the consequences.
 www.hub-4.com March/April - Issue 61
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