Hi there, does anybody know the height of the floor of the cab of a Caterpillar 631G scraper from the ground? Some work sites need the operator to have a harness type device to get into the cab if it's over 1.8 metres but this changes as the bowl is raised or lowered and the nose and cab height changes too Nobody can expect the operator to carry a tape measure so what is the official Caterpillar measurement as I can't find one online. Does anyone have a schematic diagram or workshop manual page that shows this, please? Thanks, Bushells
How did i know this question would be from Australia! OMG What we need to do in this country is stop pandering to all this BS that people in high places with no practical experience dream up and create industries and careers out of, we are fair dinkum outpricing ourselves out of the market place with all the BS we dream up down here and one day when our mining industry is all gone because we are no longer cost competitive everyone will be crying foul, and it will happen that i have no doubt, infact i am sure it is already. If someone can not climb into a piece of kit as designed by multi billion dollar corporations to worldwide standards then he or she should not be operating it, simple as that. Anyway, as to your question Caterpillar would not have an "official" height of what you are after IMO, it would be what it is as a result of the design of the machine so i suspect the only way you might find it is grab a tape and measure a machine.
If the operators are not expected to carry a tape measure, then they can't be expected to comply with such a ridiculous rule. Here's a suggestion - write a measurement on the door. Make sure whatever you write on there is less than 1.8 metres. No more problem. The safety officers don't live in the real world and so will never bother to actually measure it to find out. Next suggestion - sack whoever came up with the rule.
As posted above a lot will depend on bowl position and also the type/brand of tyres used on the machine and also how worn they are. I agree with PF, write a measurement on the door or somwhere next to the access steps. I would personally suggest that 1.75m would be as good a number as any. Also considering the working at heights regulations I have a couple of comments: - 1. How could what the operator does be considered as working..? (tongue-in-cheek type smiley) 2. I was always under the impression that the harness didn't have to be anchored for the climb up or climb back down again (not feasible anyway) from the working location, only when you're actually up there. But when the operator is "up there" (and believe me most of the ones I've met are really "up there", up their what is a totally different question...!!) he has the door closed and his seat belt fastened, or at least he should have and so should be considered "safe". So in that case I would argue that there would be no requirement for a harness during the climb up and the climb back down again. That being said I still think writing height 1.75m on the cab side would be the best way out.
Wow!
You've not heard or seen the half of it. In my previous life in Latin America it was guaranteed that every new ridiculous safety rule (e.g. internal and external roll bars on pickup trucks - the internal one was right on the line of the driver's door pillar and would have broken your neck if your truck rolled over FFS..!) was thought up by some safety germ in Oz. BHP Billiton were especially good at it, the other major players weren't far behind though.
Gavin, I could not agree more, the world's gone crazy and Australia lead it. Here in N.Z. (being Aussies poor little cousin) everytime some clown over there comes up with a stupid idea we adopt it and life becomes harder. It won't be long and we will have to do a JSA (Job Safety Analysis) to check the oil and grease your machine, not to mention the harness or maybe a cherrypicker to get up there. I can't believe the silly looking ladders you guys have on your machine, how on the earth are you ment to work them with all that rubbish on them. I guess the way things are going they will end up taking the operator stations of all machines and we can all sit in one big airconditioned room looking at a screens remotely driving our machines like some form of playstation. That way the health & safety wins (not that any of us ever want to hurt or kill someone), and the chances of an accident are reduced. The problem then becomes the heart attack we will have from inactivity and eating too many pies. Where is it going to end.
This was the reason knives, swords, and firearms were invented. They haven't been used neer enough lately.
Why don't someone show this to the guy that wrote this law and let him/her read what I say " get a life and touch of reality-get a real job". Just how stupid can people get!?
very amusing but over the heads of many I suspect
Point 2 in my comment was in fact deadly serious and could probably be used as an attempt to head the Indians off at the pass. Naaaah, who am I kidding. Write "Height 1.75m" on the side of the cab and have done with it. Interesting that the OP has not been back on here since originally asking the question. Hmmmmmmmm.....
Ha Ha, that's exactly what I was thinking..........
X 3
this has to be the absolute truth,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they must be hell to work with
Half the drama with all this over the top safety BS here, is who they hire to work onsites, ie ex shopping centre trolley return staff, telemarketers etc with absolutely no earthmoving experience. The management is so inept (usually foreign owned and managed companies) that they only hire boofheads and yobos, so they can brainwash them with the "safety indoctrination mentality". Have you ever seen or heard of an experienced operator with years of experience in the "real world" hired for a mining company !!! Good operators only manage to get a start via a contractor but usually after a short time, they've had a gutfull of the complete BS and snatch it. Been there and done that.
Working underground driving Cat AD55's and 55B's all was good, the access was under the prescribed 1.8M , we couldn't climb up and wash the tub out on the ejectors or wash the windows because someone on another site fell off an Atlas Copco MT6020, (figure that out if you can, the Atlas has rubber mudguards where the Cat has steel guards with non slip surfaces and hand rails). All this ended though when an AD45B joined the fleet. I don't know what Cat was thinking when they designed the evil little machine, but access was terrible in comparison. Steps didn't line up with the natural access position and the door didn't open as wide as it should. The inevitable occurred and an operator fell backwards out of the truck, flat on their back. Cue the whole mine shutting while the underground ambulance transported the operator to the surface etc. The truck was then moved to the naughty corner, (tagged out), until it was deemed safe for one of us to tram it to the surface where it was again placed in the naughty corner for three days while all sorts of clipboard carriers walked around it, performing some sort of exorcism one could only imagine. The end result? The door still doesn't open as wide as it should, (easily fixed I might add), the steps still don't line up well, (hard to do much as it is a design issue), but all drivers of the said truck must read and sign a JSEA before driving said truck. So now if one takes a swan dive, a friendly EHS staffer can say, well we warned you of the risks and controls and you did sign to say you would take all care and not fall out. Real safety? Not likely. All C.A.R.E. though. (Cover A#$e Retain Employment). We also have to wear fall arrest harnesses in man baskets, however the maximum height we can reach and the combined length of lanyards etc, mean we will probably still hit the ground if we fall anyway. Personally I believe the harnesses are a greater hazard because with two working aloft, the lanyards do a beauitful macrame impression and we end up like a dog tethered to a pole who has run around it too many times. As long as there are non slip steps, handrails and three points of contact are maintained you shouldn't have too much worry with your scraper access. Most companies that have such strict rules will usually have a procedure that you read and then sign off on, so until you sign something, you are not officially aware of it and have not agreed to it.
:Banghead
Very good, clipboard carriers, i like it.
So do I. I'm going to use that one over & over again. Karl, good point about having a procedure that all operators have to read & sign off on. Maybe that's what the OP needs most of all. Back to CARE again ...........
biggest trouble with all the engineering controls is you take away the need for people to think because they try and make everything 100% safe (impossible) so as time goes on you end up having a fleet of trained monkeys.. yes sir - no sir - can't think for myself sir - which makes me think of a great email which came through the post the other day...