We decided to follow up yesterday’s article with a few more tractor safety pointers. Yesterday, we focused on ROPS as a means of protecting rollovers and we looked at the importance of surveying the work place before operating a tractor. Today we are going to look at ways that a tractor operator can keep themselves safe from the mechanical workings of their vehicle.

Utah State University’s excellent “The Ten Commandments of Tractor Safety” includes some very useful suggestions in regard to preventing mechanically related accidents. First and foremost:

Dress Properly—Well fitted, belted clothing is a must. Flared pants, shirt tails, scarves and other loose clothing are too easily (and too often) caught in moving parts or controls. Invest in sturdy safety work shoes or boots with non-skid soles and steel toe caps. Protect yourself from the sun in summer and the cold in winter. Heavy work gloves are a plus, as are safety goggles or sun glasses with tempered lenses.

This is something that we have looked at on this blog numerous times in the past. It is great advice not just for tractor drivers but for all operators of heavy equipment. Loose fitting clothing can accidentally engage controls, cause you to slip or in the worst case scenario, become caught in the moving parts of your tractor.

Power Take-Off—An operating power takeoff (FITO) can be the most dangerous part of your tractor, which is why it comes equipped with protective shields. USE THEM AT ALL TIMES. An unguarded shaft, running at 1000 rpm’s, can wrap your clothes around it at the rate of 8 feet per second, and it can’t be stopped. It is many, many times more powerful than you are. It pays to treat it with the greatest respect.

The power take-off has featured in fatal accidents in the past and is sure to feature in more in the future. You need not fear the power take-off as long as it is properly protected. A tractor with an exposed power take-off is an accident waiting to happen.

By following proper tractor safety procedures, you can play a part in reducing the unacceptable level of tractor related fatalities and injuries that occur each year throughout the United States. If you are interested in tractor training or in learning how to operate any other type of heavy equipment, please contact us at any time.

Did you know that the humble tractor is involved in over 800 fatal accidents on United States farms each year? The number of tractor related injuries is even more staggering, 9,000. For a relatively simple piece of heavy equipment to be involved in so many injuries and fatalities is unacceptable. Here at Associated Training Services we take the view that most accidents are avoidable and we firmly believe that if people follow tractor safety guidelines, the number of fatalities and injuries will decrease.

A Utah State University publication titled, “The Ten Commandments of Tractor Safety” is definitely worth reading if you own or operate a tractor. Some gems of wisdom that the document offers include:

ROPS—Most tractor accidents are overturns (mostly sideways). They are usually caused by high speed or inattention. The development and use of Roll-Over Protective Structures (ROPS) during recent years has saved many lives. They normally will limit the overturn to 90 degrees while at the same time provide a frame of safety for the operator. Seat belts are an integral part of ROPS and should always be used.

While clearance can be an issue in some orchard situations, ROPS is a tractor safety addition that is recommended whenever practical.

Check the Work Area—Know in advance where hidden ditches, large rocks or stumps are located. Be wary of tall grass—it can cover hazards. Be sure the area is clear of livestock and children.

We could not have said it better ourselves. Realistically, how long does it take to perform a quick bit of reconnaissance of the work area? Look for any potential hazards and remember, just because an area was safe a week ago does not mean that it will be safe for your tractor tomorrow. Always take the time to stop and check before you start work.

Here at Associated Training Services we take tractor and heavy equipment safety very seriously; if you have any questions about these or any other topics, please feel free to contact us.

We have discussed heavy equipment safety quite frequently on this blog. Each article relating to heavy equipment safety was focused on guidelines for different types of equipment and general workplace safety. Today’s heavy equipment safety question is a little different. The question for today is, “What can be done to leave heavy equipment safely unattended?”

The biggest heavy equipment safety danger when it is left unattended is posed by collisions involving passing traffic and stationary heavy equipment. Depending on the speed that the driver is traveling at the consequences could be fatal. For the company that owns the heavy equipment involved and perhaps also the driver, there would likely be some legal repercussions if proper heavy equipment safety guidelines were not followed. The heavy equipment should be identified with barriers and reflectors. Lights should also be used to identify the location of the heavy equipment should it be appropriate. These safety precautions apply when leaving heavy equipment unattended for any length of time; even if work is in progress at a nearby location

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions relating to heavy equipment safety, please do not hesitate to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Source: Workers Compensation Fund (PDF)

When it comes to grader safety, most of the guidelines fall clearly into the category of commonsense. All the same, accidents do happen because people forget the guidelines or do not feel that they are in danger. It is just as easy to become complacent regarding grader safety as it is any other type of heavy equipment safety.

• Wear relatively tight fitting clothing with a belt. Loose clothes can catch on controls.
• Keep all of your contact points free of water, grease, mud and anything else that might cause you to slip. Contact points include the controls, losing your grip on the steering wheel can be just as dangerous as overbalancing as you exit the vehicle.
• Only operate your grader from the driver’s position.
• Keep your grader in gear when you are going downhill.
• Avoid excessive speed when you are going downhill.
• Take your turns slowly and carefully. Reduce your speed before the turn, rather than during your turn.

These are by no means all of the grader safety guidelines, but they are some of the ones that people tend to forget about when they become complacent. If you have any other grader safety recommendations, please do not hesitate to leave a comment to this article. If you are interested in grader training, grader safety or any other aspect of heavy equipment training, please contact us at Associated Training Services

It is worth reminding yourself every once in a while that what has been learned about heavy equipment safety has come from the painful consequences of other peoples’ mistakes. There was a time that construction was an extremely dangerous occupation. The dangers have not diminished; we have just developed better safety procedures to protect us from them. Heavy equipment safety is one area that has improved dramatically, but mistakes are still made and lessons are still being learned. Take the following example which is from a public safety report that was published on the University of Iowa Website:

In the bottom of an 8-foot hole was a concrete casing around an existing pipe that the men were trying to remove. An iron trench box, measuring approximately 20’ long, 8’ tall, and 8’ wide, was in the hole. The victim was standing in the trench box giving hand signals to the excavator operator above him. He was positioned between the excavator bucket and the inside wall of the trench box (see diagram). The men were trying to carefully remove the casing without damaging the pipe. In the process of prying off the casing, the bucket teeth slipped off the edge of the concrete, and the bucket and arm of the excavator snapped toward the victim, crushing him against the wall of the trench box, causing chest and abdominal injuries.

This accident resulted in the death of the victim, which is sad because it was avoidable. Neither the victim or the operator of the excavator was at fault. They were unaware of the dangers that were involved, as is so often the case. The fact is that many unskilled laborers have no training regarding heavy equipment safety.

Reading the report one is struck by the inherent dangers of the situation, but when you are on a job, you tend to be thinking about the job, you grow accustomed to the dangers and you take risks. Complacent is something that you never want to become. Be paranoid about heavy equipment safety and you will see far fewer accidents. In the case above, workers from the company did later succeed in removing the casing. They did so with jackhammers, which though less powerful and a lot slower would have been the better choice from the very beginning. Sure an excavator could have gotten the job done a lot faster, but the environment was not safe for an excavator, end of story. If there are unacceptable heavy equipment safety risks involved in an operation, you need to reevaluate your game plan.

What do hardhats have to do with heavy equipment safety? When you are in the vehicle, nothing really, hardhats have a lot more to do with workplace safety than heavy equipment safety. If you are in a covered vehicle a hardhat is generally not going to give you too many safety benefits. If there is a hard roof over your head, that will protect you from falling objects. The hardhat might come into play if something comes through the windshield but in terms of actual heavy equipment safety benefits, they are unlikely to offer much. All the same, you should always wear your hardhat.

Why wear a hardhat in a vehicle? Heavy equipment operators quite often need to exit their vehicles. In fact, there are often times that they must work alongside their vehicles. These are times that accidents happen. You might be perfectly safe inside the vehicle, but step outside and you are vulnerable. You should make a habit of wearing your hardhat at all times, wear it so often that you feel naked without it. The last thing you want is to have an accident when you are unprepared. While hardhats are not that big a part of heavy equipment safety, it is highly recommended that heavy equipment operators make use of them. Hardhats save lives and prevent injuries and that is at the heart of what heavy equipment safety is all about. If you have any questions or comments relating to heavy equipment safety, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Why is having three points of contact so important for heavy equipment safety? The most common accidents on worksites are from stupid things that just happen. People slip on stairs, people trip getting out of vehicles. People fall out of vehicles. While nine times out of ten, this will hurt nothing more than a person’s ego, sometimes people are seriously injured. Sometimes the injuries are enough to keep them out of work for a long period of time or even permanently. Maintaining three points of contact minimizes the likelihood of one of the most avoidable types of heavy equipment accident.

I once read a story of a particularly ruthless safety inspector. It was a long time ago, so I forget exactly how it went, but I remember most of the details. This particular safety inspector was on an oil rig, when a reporter came to visit her. One of the rig workers brought two steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee for the safety inspector and the reporter.
The safety inspector promptly responded, “You were holding two cups of coffee, how did you hold onto the handrail.”

While this might seem ungrateful on the part of the safety inspector, she was absolutely right for doing so. There are plenty of construction safety inspectors that would have said the same and some would not have been so polite. Three points of contact is of the utmost importance to heavy equipment safety.

The three points of contact rule is that you must maintain three points of contact when entering or exiting the vehicle. A point of contact is generally a hand or foot. Two points of contact, which is all that most people think that they need; places people at risk of losing balance. It is a rule not just in heavy equipment safety, but in many other professions as you can see from the story above.

Do you have any heavy equipment safety stories? Please feel free to drop them in the comment box, we would love to hear them and might even incorporate them in a future article. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

It is a fact that accidents happen and no matter how conscientious you are about heavy equipment safety, nothing will change that. What people can change is the way that they approach heavy equipment safety. Heavy equipment safety is not about creating a perfectly safe environment where nothing can go wrong, it is about minimizing the number of unnecessary risks that we take in the workplace. You are never going to be able to eliminate all risk. Let’s work on eliminating the risks that we can control, starting with clothing.

Clothing: a Heavy Equipment Safety Variable that you can Control

Tight fitting clothing is an absolute must. Loose clothing gets in the way of handling equipment. More importantly, loose fitting clothing can get caught in moving parts and that can potentially be fatal. If you want to improve your heavy equipment safety levels, clothing is a great place to start.

Needless to say, scarves are a major heavy equipment safety issue. It’s winter, it’s cold, wear a neck warmer. Think of a scarf as a potential noose, because that is what it is. If a scarf gets caught in equipment the wrong way, it can be deadly. Incidentally, office workers should take care around paper shredders if they wear ties for much the same reasons.

Hardhats are essential heavy equipment safety equipment, regardless of whether or not your vehicle is covered. There will be times that you need to exit the vehicle. If you make a habit of wearing a hardhat constantly, you will not be caught without one.

Do you have some heavy equipment safety concerns that you would like to discuss? Are you interested in taking a heavy equipment course? Please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

One of the things that we really try to stress here at Associated Training Services is heavy equipment safety. The amount of workplace accidents in the United States is alarmingly high. We firmly believe that all accidents are avoidable and try to instill this philosophy in all of our students.

Would you report a workmate for unsafe behavior? Most people would answer that question with a definite, “no.” Reporting workmates for unsafe behavior goes against the grain of many people. The fact is, however, that unsafe work practices put lives and jobs at risk. If you are a heavy equipment operator, then you have a duty of care to your fellow workers. You are responsible for heavy equipment safety relating to your machine. If you allow workers to behave unsafely around your heavy equipment, you are, to a certain extent, responsible.

If you do not want to report your workmates for unsafe practices, you should at least make them aware of heavy equipment safety guidelines. Talk to them; remind them of the dangers of their actions. If they persist in working unsafely then it might become necessary to take action. Do not let heavy equipment accidents occur on your watch.

If you have any questions regarding heavy equipment safety, please contact us at Associated Training Services.

Tractors are one of the most straightforward pieces of heavy equipment that you are ever likely to operate, but from time to time things do go wrong. Today we are going to look at a few heavy equipment safety tips that can keep you out of trouble on your tractor.

• Don’t wear loose fitting clothes – This may seem obvious, but for some people it isn’t. Loose fitting clothes and tractors (or any other kind of heavy equipment) do not mix. Long or excessively baggy jackets are an obvious no-no but don’t forget that the humble scarf has the potential to be deadly. Wear a neck-warmer if you need to drive a tractor in the cold.
• Go easy on the speed – Tractors are heavy and that additional weight can make them quite difficult to stop. Most injuries involving tractors involve rollovers, sticking to sensible speeds is one way to reduce this risk.
• Be careful on inclines – Do not try to drive a tractor up or down steep hills. If you are on an incline there is a much greater chance of rollover. Most tractors are not suitable or driving in steep terrain.

Good luck and safe tractor driving. With icy conditions in a lot of parts of the country, you do need to take extra care. If you have any questions relating to tractor safety or heavy equipment safety in general, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.