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Posted By Gordon Rainbird
Whilst on site unloading a lorry of folded steel sections our slinger/signaler was ordered by our client to wear a harness with a retractable lanyard and attach it to the crane hook.
Our view on this was that this would be okay if he was standing in one place, but if you have to attach slings or chains to two or more separate locations and you walk further from the crane hook, extending the lanyard, and were to fall you could potentially receive worse injuries by being swung into the lorry side at an odd angle than you would if you fell off directly.
Others comments on this issue would be most welcome.
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Posted By jayjay
Gordon !
You could always use an inertia block, instead of a retractable lanyard !
JJ
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Posted By Dave Todd
Why not simply trust in the skill & experience of your crew?
Presumably they are all qualified to do these tasks?
The business of loading/unloading dictates that any amount of unforeseen vairiables can, & will, crop-up sooner or later.
Harnessing men into a situation from which they can't escape seems foolish.
And dangerous.
Go out there yourself & have a go.
You'll see what I mean.............
Allow your people to get on with things.
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Posted By Ken John
I understand what that last post is suggesting, but in the unfortunate event that the slinger may fall and suffer serious injuries would "Allow your people to get on with things" be enough? I am thinking in terms of HSE prosecution and/or personal injury claims.
I sometimes wonder whether the skills, experience, competency etc. of these people are enough. After all they have been working off the back of lorries for a long time and have not fallen off.
Is that good luck or good management?
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Posted By Gordon Rainbird
Thanks for your responses. Its good to know someone is out there.
The inertia block has the same problem as a lanyard, in that walking away from the crane hook increases the risk of injury if you fall.
We have always trusted the skill and experience of our crews plus we have trained them and assessed the work they do.
We agree with increased in potential risk when harnessing men under certain cirumstances, especially if a load moves when being unstrapped after being in transit.(Shouldn't happen, but in practice.......it has).
The HSE website, though useful, does not say anything new to us and offers no guidance to our situation.
We have spoken to crane companies who are having the same problem. They even had to send two cranes to site to offload one lorry. One for the load and one for the slinger / signaller. The risks involved in operating two mobile cranes in such close proximity don't bear thinking about!
We may, however, have come up with a solution which would involve some co-operation with our haulier. We are looking at posts fixed to each end of the trailers with a catenary wire running between them, we could then attach a harness to the wire and use that prevent a fall, whilst still giving people a chance to take evasive action if required.
This is not a short term solution and will take some time to design and implement.
As ever we would welcome any better solutions or comments.
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Posted By JONATHAN CLARKE
Gordon,
This is becoming a must every where now, and there are a number of companies that produce systems which will allow full movement to access the load but still restrain you if a fall occurs. As previuosly mentioned by someone else the use of a fall arrest block instead of a lanyard will give you the flexability I think you would be looking for. At the end of the day the systems on the market are there to prevent falls causing deaths and serious injuries but secondary injuries may occur while these safety systems do their job. I have been looking into systems myself, and have discovered a system which is used for flat bed trailers mainly in the construction industry. It is called Trailerpal, it is a portable fall arresrt line with takes just 15 minutes to erect using a crane and it allows unloading of a vehicle with the operator attached to a safety line at all time. It even includes a rescue winch in case of a fall. I believe that the product has just come onto the market and is distributed by a company called HoistQuip Ltd, there details are as follows:
Tel: 01743 446666
Fax: 01743 442448
I beleive a website is due to be launched shortly.
I am sure that they could provide you with some more information if you require it.
regards
Jon
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Posted By Dave Todd
Gordon,
The reason I suggested you go out & have a go for yourself was to illustrate to you the feeling of how artificial the whole procedure becomes. Not least for your operatives.
They'll be working in all weathers & conditions.
Having your own freedom of movement & instinctive escape route(s) " managed " is not an ideal situation.
After all, your guys know their stuff, are safety conscious, and, they DO plan ahead for the worst case scenario; even if they don't appear forthcoming when asked. Instinctively they do this. On every job.
They do this subconsciously because they are professionals. None of them want an incident.
The max. height from which they can fall/jump is 16 feet.
Far better a survivor than a fatality?
The flip -side is potential claims for stress & mental anguish. How stressful is it to be restrained in a dangerous environment?
A good barrister could dine out on this for years....................
Please have a go before deciding new policy.
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Posted By alex mccreadie
Gordon if this is a common operation there are some good systems out there one I like is a Air Mat system that surrounds the trailer and catches or arrests anyone who falls. I also have a tried and tested RA when using a crane which I would send you if you wish
Ta Alex
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Posted By Gordon Rainbird
Dave,
You are preaching to the converted here, I have unloaded more lorries using a crane than I have had hot dinners.
Alex,
We are always in a situation where we need to offload at various locations around sites, so an air bag / scaffolding etc is not practical, it would be a solution under different circumstances.
For us, any fall arrest system would lead to an increase in other risks. Unfortunately we are caught between a rock and hard place as we are always trying to influence the opinion of others who say whether we can carry out the work or not.
It seems to me that a company policy is being enforced by those at the sharp end without a real knowledge of why the policy is in place. This would appear to show the limitations of enforcing a company policy when situations on site can vary from the norm.
We have decided not to carry out the work in the manner requested by the client. We would rather not have the work than carry it out in an unacceptable manner. We shall continue to look for a better, more workable solution.
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Posted By stuart curtis
This is a problem I have come accross many many times...
The solution needs to be practical and needs to be sought in consultation with those carrying out the work.
There are a number of solutions out there, I have used combisave davit sockets with retractable inertia reels attached, I have used lorries with attachable hand rails and I have used moveable walkways that can be placed around the lorry and provide both a safe haven for slingers and safe access to the lorry bed.
I would advise you do not go down the route of leaving this to the experience of the operatives as this can lead to tragic concequences...
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