Capital Equipment News MAY 2016

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS

MAY 2016

WORK @ HEIGHT:

FROM THE BOARD

WORLD NEWS

LAUNCH OF GUIDELINES FOR SAFE WORKING AT HEIGHT – 10 OCTOBER 2016 AT BYTES

CONFERENCE CENTRE, MIDRAND

As indicated before, the IWH and relevant

stakeholders from the industry, embarked on the

development of a set of Guidelines for Safe Working

at Height. This document will be made available

for the benefit of anyone supervising, managing

or carrying out tasks in any place considered to

be working at height. The Guidelines have also

received the official approval of the Department of

Labour, through Mr Tibor Szana’s office.

South African National Standards, SANS, are those

most used within this document and the industry at

large. Alternatives, such as International Standards,

have also been considered to be 'Good Practice' if

their requirements are above those of SANS Codes

and/or no SANS code exist for that item.

The Guidelines will officially be launched on the

10 October 2016, at Bytes Conference Centre in Mid-

rand where the Chief Inspector, Mr Tibor Szana will

deliver the Keynote Speech.

The purpose of the guidelines document is to pro-

vide people with the necessary basic knowledge to un-

derstand and make safe any task that is to be carried

out at height. It was developed with input from several

industries 'experts', in their individual fields, looking at

ways of improving current practices and making work

at height safer for everyone.

The scope was not to focus on any one particular

industry, such as construction or mining, but rather at

anybody who “through the course of their work was

required to be in an elevated position and have a risk

of falling”.

Falling from height, or being struck by objects that

fall from height, results in more death and disabling

injuries than any other occupational cause. This is not

only in South Africa but across the world in developing

and advanced nations. Therefore, developing the fun-

damental duties of employers will only work to reduce

the number of fatalities and disabilities caused in this

way.

The duties can be broken down as

follows:

• Developing and implementing safe systems of

work.

• Providing safe access and egress to work locations.

• Confirming work locations are safe and remain that

way throughout every task.

• Ensuring safe equipment is provided, maintained

and used correctly.

• Confirming employees are competent to do the

work expected of them.

We hope that readers will be able to see that we

have tried to provide suitable and sufficient content to

allow informed decisions to be made whilst applying

those duties of care. Taking a step back, before

work commences, to ask “have we done enough

to safeguard ourselves and others?” is paramount

to successfully working safely at height. This, and

carrying out any activity in a safe and controlled

manner.

Although we have tried to cover every angle, unsafe

acts and conditions may still lead to events that cause

injury or ill health to workers and people affected by

tasks being carried out. This is why accidents, near-

miss events and dangerous occurrences must form

part of the overall planning of safe work at height. All

companies must have a policy and procedure in place

for reporting such events and should always follow the

stated protocols and reporting methods, ensuring the

employer is notified immediately. In addition, the acci-

dent scene should never be tampered with, unless to

save life or prevent further harm, until authorised to do

so by the employer.

Rescue must also be an integral part of the pol-

icy and procedures. Looking at the probabilities of

how harm will occur will provide the best insight into

necessary equipment and methods required for po-

tential rescues. Carrying out training and drills, with

the people involved with rescue teams, will further

assist in achieving the ultimate goals. The ultimate

goals are to prevent accidents, save life and reduce

the numbers of working at height events that cause

the death, disabling injuries and suffering that poor

planning encourages.

With organisations/bodies such as Department of

Labour, IOSM, SAIOSH, MBA being involved in the

development of the document and endorsing it, these

guidelines will assist greatly not just in advising the

industry at large but also being accepted by people

involved in working at height.

Interested people who would like to attend the

launch on 10 October or buying the guidelines

document is welcome to contact us via email at

pa@profbody.co.za

Dr ALTI KRIEL, CEO: IWH

JCB UPGRADES

TELEHANDLER

JCB has debuted in the North

American market with a new tele-

handler, the 540-140 HiViz which of-

fers a 4 000 kg maximum lift capaci-

ty with a maximum lift height of 22 m

on wheels and 26 m on stabilisers.

The 540-140 HiViz Loadall has the

lowest boom mounting in its class,

up to 24 cm lower than the stan-

dard 540-140. The boom section has

been reduced by 34 cm to coincide

with the overall height advantage.

Hydraulic performance is closely

matched with the engine’s output,

while lift performance has been

tailored to the machine’s stability,

both when working on wheels and

with the stabilisers down.

MAGNI INTRODUCES FIXED

BOOM TELEHANDLER

Italian telescopic handler manufac-

turer, Magni TH, displayed its first

fixed boom telescopic handler at

BAUMA 2016 – the TH6.20, with a

maximum capacity of 6 tonnes and

a working height of 20 m.

The range will consist of three

models – 10, 15 and 20 m working

height.

The machines will have the same

pressurised and airtight full visi-

bility cabs of the RTH models with

standard heating, air conditioning

and 100 % inlet air filtration. The

cab will also be fitted with Magni’s

touch screen and MCTS system to

control the machine.

ERRATUM

We appologise for the error in the

last work@height newsletter where

Jean DuRandt was reffered to as the

CEO of Eazi Group. Jean DuRandt is

the GM GS of the Eazi Group