Much has been said and written about heavy equipment safety, however, it not a new subject. Safety has always been at the core of any heavy equipment training – there’s just hasn’t been the focus that we now see. In the past, it was considered a part of your training, not as a separate subject.

As an example, an excavator operator has always been taught to check their environs before operating their equipment. Looking up, looking around, and even looking down is not new – it’s always been there. The difference now is that operators are assessed on their specific knowledge of heavy equipment safety and because of that, it has become a separate subject area.

When you compare accidents and serious injury/death rates between now and twenty years ago, there’s no argument that specialized safety training has helped to decrease these numbers. Employers have been given the responsibility (some would say burden) of ensuring that all workers are trained to a minimum OSHA standard. When looking for heavy equipment training, it makes sense to check that OSHA training is included in your training program. Without this training, your employment prospects may be limited – you will need to find an employer who is willing to take your through an equivalent safety training program.

Safety in the workplace is an important issue nationwide, not just in the heavy equipment field. Pen pushers in their glass towers are required to have some form of safety training, even if it only involves fire drills. When it comes to heavy equipment operations, it’s important to remember that your equipment is large, it’s heavy, and it’s deadly if not used safely – deadly to both those around the equipment, and in many cases, to those operating the equipment.

Heavy equipment safety has always been an important component of training – today, safety issues are clearly documented and you are expected to have a sound knowledge of these issues.

It doesn’t matter how much training you give an individual, there are still times when they will do something silly. That one silly act can often have devastating results. The big problem is often being too relaxed and getting into bad habits. What prompted this post today was the story of an English heavy equipment operator who was run over (and killed) by his own ‘steamroller’. How? The details are not clear, however, it appears he climbed out of his cab and went to the front of the equipment, and it rolled on top of him – not a pleasant experience, yet it could have been avoided by ensuring the hand break was on, or better yet, not standing in front of his equipment.

We frequently hear or read about accidents, some that threaten life whilst others are just downright inconvenient. As an operator, the day will come when a neighbor, friend or family member asks for a favor – dig me a pool; grade my driveway; dig up an old tree stump. Every weekend there are heavy equipment operators doing these favors, and every weekend there is an accident of some description.

Some of these accidents involve hitting the wall or roof of a building. Of more concern is the digging up and rupturing of underground services. Sewerage is an obvious problem, however, it’s gas that causes the biggest problems, often involving the evacuation of nearby residents for several hours. More disturbing is the failure to look up, and in failing to do so, coming into contact with overhead powerlines. Small towns have been blacked out for hours because someone failed to take care.

These situations are all avoidable. Checking for underground services before digging; being constantly aware of overhead powerlines; and being aware of your surroundings, especially if you’re in unfamiliar territory. Interesting, these are skills and processes that most operators do automatically whilst at work – take them out of the workplace, and those skills and processes are suddenly forgotten. We can train you to become a heavy equipment operator, and we can train you in all the safety requirements of heavy equipment operations. What we can’t do is train common sense – hopefully, you already have that.

Heavy equipment safety has become a central issue across the nation. This comes after decades of uncontrolled operation of heavy equipment. Even now, there is little in the way of licensing when it comes to operating heavy equipment. However, employers are required to keep employees up to date when it comes to workplace health and safety issues. In today’s workplace, employers can be fined quite heavily if their workers have not completed some form of recognized safety training. Our heavy equipment training programs include a safety component that is sufficient to allow graduates onto a work site.

If I was to offer one tip to new heavy equipment operators, it would be familiarity – in other words, getting to know your equipment. In many workplaces, the equipment you operate today will be the same equipment you operate tomorrow, next week, and indeed perhaps next year. Getting to know that equipment well will make it a lot easier to detect problems. If you have owned a car for a long time, you know almost immediately when something doesn’t feel quite right. You will also generally spot an external problem quickly, simply because of that familiarity.

The same is true for heavy equipment. If you know your equipment well, a pre-startup inspection will quickly reveal any problems. You will also spot potential problems that you can monitor daily. During operation, you’ll also quickly identify problems – an engine that doesn’t seem to have the normal power; controls that are not responding correctly; or perhaps just a feeling that ‘somethings not quite right’.

Our heavy equipment safety training can teach you how to inspect for problems, and how to report them. It takes constant use and a certain familiarity with your heavy equipment that makes the job easier. A word of caution – don’t let familiarity with you heavy equipment turn into complacency, use to your benefit instead.

In today’s workplace, safety is the responsibility of everyone; employees, employers, workplace visitors and government agencies included. When it comes to earth moving equipment, heavy equipment safety training is a necessary requirement in all work places. The question then is, do you undertake that training as part of your heavy equipment training program or expect a future employer to deliver the training?

Most employers are running on thin margins in today’s economic climate. Given a choice between employing an individual who has already completed a heavy equipment safety course, and someone who hasn’t, you know who the employer is going to select. It makes sense then to ensure that when buying a heavy equipment training program, you check first on whether or not it includes a safety component.

Entering the heavy equipment workforce can be a tough undertaking so you need to have every possible box ticked. Employers are picky when it comes to new recruits, and they are taking a big gamble on someone who has little experience apart from that received during training. So what boxes do employers want ticked?

• Training provided by a well known and respected organization
• Training that follows national guidelines
• Training that includes hands on experience
• Training that includes heavy equipment safety as a core component

In fact, if your training is delivered by a well known and respected organization, then the chances are all the other boxes will get the automatic tick – that is why they are respected. As a student, it is still up to you to check on what is offered prior to signing on to the course. Heavy equipment training is a serious undertaking – heavy equipment safety is even more serious.

Like many occupations, heavy equipment has a strong emphasis on safety. Like driving a car, most operators develop a safe working habit over time. And just like a car, the real danger is often not what you are doing, but what others are doing around you.

This is generally labelled as safety awareness. Using the car as an analogy again, it’s difficult to be taught road safety awareness since there is so much going around you at any given time. The same is true on a construction site. Being able to develop that safety awareness is as equally important as learning to operate your heavy equipment. If you’re accident prone, no matter how good you are digging trenches, or moving earth, you won’t have a long career in the industry.

Construction sites are a real hub of activity. There are people moving around everywhere; trucks and other vehicles constantly coming and going; cranes constantly raising and lowering loads, and heavy equipment like yours trying to maneuver through and around what is often described as organized chaos. To be successful, you require either eyes in the back of your head, a sixth sense, or a strongly developed sense of awareness – the ability to quickly look around you and to take it all in. Not only do you take it all in, but you factor it into your decision making.

We only ever hear about the serious accidents that occur involving heavy equipment. Here’s a little known fact – 95% of heavy equipment operators work year after year without ever having a serious accident. They will have minor accidents, but then, almost everyone has had a minor incident with a car. If you can develop a sense of awareness while operating heavy equipment, you’ll have a long and safe career. Heavy equipment training will give you the skills required to operate your equipment. We can also give you all the safety knowledge required to stay safe. Awareness is something that comes with time and experience.

Heavy equipment safety is vitally important to the smooth running of any work site. Let’s face it, heavy equipment machinery are generally large rather cumbersome vehicles that are capable of doing a lot of damage when something goes wrong, or in the wrong hands. Workplace safety has a number of areas that operators need to be aware of. There are the work practices, in other words, how you use your heavy equipment. There are maintenance issues such as ensuring that each unit of heavy equipment is inspected and serviced according to a schedule.

The most important person when it comes to heavy equipment safety is the operator. Whilst safe operations are obvious, there are tasks that need to be completed, before an operator starts the engine. External walk around inspections are important. An operator can visually inspect all working components (including tires and tracks) for wear and tear and developing problems. A heavy equipment operator also needs to complete a quick safety check from inside their cab. The following video from Caterpillar demonstrates an internal safety check.

An internal safety check like the one demonstrated only takes sixty seconds. Failing to do so can lead to serious problems, including serious injury and death to both the operator and those working around them. Our society now demands that workers observe OSHA practices whilst in the workplace. Legislators have listened and have made safety training a compulsory component of most training programs, no matter what type of workplace.

When it comes to heavy equipment, safety training, is not just a requirement, it’s a set of skills that are designed to protect operators from serious injury. Ironically, once trained, most operators go through the sixty second internal safety check almost on auto pilot – it becomes second nature to them – and so it should.

For heavy equipment operators, safety on all work sites should be the first priority. After all, there is a lot happening at any given moment, and most of the action involves heavy, dangerous pieces of equipment. Heavy equipment alone is dangerous to the operator and others on the work site, but there are often unseen dangers on a construction site. Power lines are often found near construction sites, and sometimes even high voltage lines which can be a serious danger to a heavy equipment operator.

In some instances, these lines can be buried under the ground, yet in other areas they will be over head supported by poles. Both of these situations can be dangerous for a heavy equipment operator . The underground power lines can be easily hit by a backhoe or excavator. To prevent this, the power company should be contacted to mark the ground where the lines are buried. Even after the lines are marked, extreme caution must be used when digging in the area.

Overhead power lines can also be a danger to operators. They can be easily forgotten as they are out of sight. The main two pieces of heavy equipment that are susceptible to these overhead wires are the crane and, believe it or not, the dump truck. The dump truck operator can actually hit a power line when lifting the load up to dump it. To prevent accidents related to the overhead power lines, preferably, the power can be shut down to the area. If this is not possible, enough warning signage must be used to ensure operators are constantly aware of the lines and where they are located.

There are many dangers on a work site, power lines may be one of the most dangerous due to the voltage they may carry. The proper procedures and precautions must be taken at all times when working near them. Safety around these dangerous power lines must be every worker’s main priority on the work site at all times.

The life of a heavy equipment operator can be one of financial security and respect within a community. These men and women are recognized as the force behind the building of the roads citizens travel on and the buildings where many work. With the financial rewards and recognition comes a lot of responsibility, these heavy equipment jobs can be extremely dangerous if the proper precautions are not taken. A heavy equipment operator must have the skills required to complete his job in a quality manner, but heavy equipment safety must always be his or her number one priority.

A construction site is a fairly dangerous place in general. When several pieces of heavy equipment are working the same site, this just multiplies the danger. The chances of a serious incident occurring increase if people are not properly trained on heavy equipment safety. Some of the more horrific accidents can happen simply by not paying attention to one’s surroundings. Many a worker has been crushed by equipment overturning or even run over by a piece of heavy equipment. Others have been hurt or even killed when getting caught between a wall and a piece of equipment. All of these accidents can be avoided if a proper heavy equipment safety training program is in place.

Heavy equipment safety training is taught at all Heavy Equipment training schools, but it also needs to be performed at the company level on a regular basis. The importance of heavy equipment safety cannot be taken lightly. This essential training also needs to be kept interesting to ensure it effectively gets through to operators. No matter the skill level of an operator, heavy equipment safety must be the number one priority on a work site. The alternative can be life taking.

It is extremely important that heavy equipment operators keep their equipment well maintained and in working order at all times, so the equipment can operate reliably when needed on the work site. When maintenance is kept up to date, the operator can keep his equipment in top condition and be able to visually inspect for repairs that need to be made. If done on a regular basis, these inspections and maintenance can keep heavy equipment in top shape and keep them from major costly and time consuming repairs.

Daily heavy equipment maintenance should include a visual inspection, which should be comprised of a walk around the equipment while looking for leaking fluids and worn parts or belts. Fluid levels should also be checked and topped off during this inspection as well as any dry linkage should be greased where necessary. Lastly, the air pressure levels in the equipment’s tires should be checked and filled as necessary.

Quarterly maintenance should be performed every three months or every 500 hours of use. At this inspection, an oil and filter change should be performed, also, the hydraulic oil filter should be changed. Finally, the diesel fuel filter should be replaced at this quarterly maintenance inspection.

Yearly, or at the end of the season, the hydraulic oil and transmission fluids should be completely replaced. A thorough cleaning should also be done at this point, and a close inspection performed to look for any repairs that should be completed. Lastly, the tires should be given a very close inspection to ensure proper tread, and if they are not up to standards, they should be replaced immediately.

As can be seen in the above steps, there is not a whole lot to maintaining a piece of heavy equipment, as long as a maintenance and inspection schedule is maintained. Like any other type of vehicle, the better shape things are kept in the longer they will last. Hours that are needed for costly repairs are also hours that the piece of machinery is not doing its job on the work site. Through maintenance and inspection, heavy equipment can keep getting the job done and money in the operator’s pocket.

Safety is of the utmost importance on any work site, and this is especially true when dealing with a rough terrain forklift. Although serving the same purpose as a normal forklift, the rough terrain model offers a heavy equipment operator the ability to go off-road with his load to get to the hard-to-reach areas of the construction site. This is a necessity on nearly every work site, so the actual terrain can differ and lead to safety issues very quickly. This is why a thorough rough terrain forklift safety training class is essential for all heavy equipment operators.

Regardless of the forklift and terrain, safety must be the main focus of the operator. To ensure this, there must be a constant focus on the load and the fact that a forklift with the load raised is going to be top heavy and can easily tip. This is particularly true when on an incline; an operator must ensure the load is always on the uphill side of the forklift. An additional safety concern is the speed of the forklift on the work site. As with all heavy equipment on rough terrain, a safe speed must be maintained at all times. Lastly, weather can lead to issues for the forklift operator; rain or snow can make speed an even more serious issue, so extreme caution should be taken.

Forklift driving in a warehouse or other controlled environment can be dangerous enough, but add to that the rough terrain of a construction site and there is a recipe for disaster. As a result, the rough terrain forklift driver must be well trained in all aspects of the safety issues involved in this piece of machinery. The dangers of this type of forklift should not be feared but must be respected at all times. It is essential to get this proper training on an all terrain forklift from a high level heavy equipment operator training course .