Posted By R Hindle
Hi
i was wondering if anyone has or knows of any safety guidelines for the use of ratchet straps, we have had an injury to an employee whilst using a ratchet strap, and he maintains that he was never taught in the safe use of such work equipment, i know that most will say this is common sense, but i suspect a compensation claim coming at the orginisation that i work for, i would be most greatful for any help

thanks

Ron

Posted By Sean Nuttall
Hi Ron,
I can look at this problem from a number of perspectives given my background and hope at least some of it may be of use. One of my first jobs after leaving the forces some 20 years ago was in the warehouse of Spanset who were and maybe still are one of the major suppliers of load restraint systems. Samples of each batch of material were sent for destructive testing and everything was designed to fail well in excess of its nominal fail point including mutlipliers. Out of the box they were suitable for their designed duties with the added bonuses of being cheap, reliable and easy to inspect prior to use.

The next time I came across them was a few years later as a newly qualified HGV driver. I was mortified to see people using scaffold poles as levers to increase the tension on the ratchets. The ratchets would be buckled, the webbing would often be damaged, a couple of webbing straps suitable for 3 tonne duties would be being used to restrain 24+ tonnes of steel plates, no sleeves on the webbing to protect from sharp edges etc. All in all most drivers at that time did not know how the hell to use them and had never been trained in their correct use. I still see them used innappropriately nowadays but as the majority of trailers are now curtain sided I think the danger is now hidden.

As someone now involved in H and S, I now look back with some horror on what I saw as a driver. Staff using ratchet straps should be fully trained in the correct selection of webbing and ratchets for a duty. (Spanset tried to make this easy 20 years ago by stitching 3 black stripes on orange webbing for 3T duties and 5 stripes for 5T but this information did not often make its way down to drivers). They should be trained in the selection of the correct end fittings for duties. I.E. Not using hooks on the end of webbing strops onto the hooks on the underside of vehicle beds (another common error).
Then there is the correct use of straps. I cannot recall the amount of times I was nearly hit by a hook on the end of a strap that had been just lobbed over the load of an adjacent trailer and finally how to tension the ratchets themselves correctly without the use of scaffold bars. Due to the height of trailer beds above ground and then the short length of strap from the ratchet to the securing point you can often find that a short user will be over reaching considerably when tensioning a ratchet so you should RA this whole operation.

Not sure of anyone who undertakes this training but am sure the manufacturers must. It is in thier vested interests for their equipment to be used correctly but "common sense" is definitely not to be relied upon with these items.

Hope that is of use

Regards
S