The HSE have recently published news of a wood recycling company that’s been fined after an employee was killed when he was struck by a wheel loader.
An extract from the article says:
“A wheel loader, with its bucket raised, was operating in the yard along with other vehicles, but as the shovel moved forward, it collided with Tom who died from his injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that John Brooke (Timber Treatments) Limited did not properly organise its workplace to keep pedestrians safe. There were no control measures, such as physical barriers, to prevent pedestrians accessing areas where loading shovels, lorries, forklift trucks and 360 grabs operated. It failed to properly assess the risks from operating machinery with reduced visibility and did not properly train, instruct and monitor employees.”
We know that restricted forward visibility is a major problem on these vehicles. The blind spot can be as far as 30m with a bucket raised. And drivers and cameras cannot see a person in front of them. It’s these tragic stories of families losing a loved one that keeps us doing what we do to help customers eliminate plant pedestrian collisions.
The video below is a stark reminder of just how little can be seen by drivers and cameras in front of their loading shovel. And this is without a load in the bucket – visibility would be even further restricted when carrying waste.
We work in partnership with many wood recyclers across the UK who operate these types of vehicles to keep their staff safe and provide drivers and pedestrian with the warning of a potential collision.
See how you can keep your staff safe with a proximity warning system that gives 360 coverage around your loading shovels.