I'm not sure if this subject has been discussed before or not. I got the idea in the grader "setting or standing" thread. How many of you actually fasten your seat belts when operating your equipment? I for one can honestly say that I have a very poor track record for this. Driving truck, it is the first thing that I do. Grader & TLB as I say...poor track record:beatsme Maybe a poll can be started on this?
i always do wether its the trackhoe, loader, adt, roller etc. at my last company i almost got fired for not having it on, so i put it on all the time now
Nope, I just plug it in, then sit down so the alarms don't go off. BTW I own my own company so I'm not getting fired any time soon.
Skid steer suspension seats don't work unless you're wearing a seat belt, so running the skid I always buckle up. Same idea with the excavator, you just get trashed around if you're not wearing one. Kinda depends on what I'm doing though, if I'm jumping in and out of the cab I'll leave it off, but for long periods of operating especially if there's a lot of walking the excavator involved I always buckle up.
80% of the time I dont wear it. The other 20% that I do wear it is when I'm loading roof trusses or doing other things up high.
I wear them all the time in a truck also. I'll wear them in equipment if I think the piece could roll or do something else that could eject me.:usa
I think a seatbelt is an essential piece of safety equipment. I always wear the belt when driving or operating any equipment. My experience has been if you can stay in the seat and keep your hands on the levers you can maintain some semblance of control. If the machine rolls over you definetly want to stay inside the machine - thats what ROPS are designed for. All you need to do is clean the street with a Bobcat without your seatbelt on and hit that manhole cover that is buried in dirt. It was like a Warner Brothers cartoon - I saw stars dancing around my head - after it slammed against the ROPS. ointhead Like the saying goes "If your gonna be dumb - you gotta be tough". My company policy is seatbelts must be worn in any company vehicle or piece of equipment. The silliest thing I have seen are operators wearing their hard hats inside a machine with ROPS and not wearing their seatbelt.:beatsme
100% of the time I wear them. On a upset, involving a skidloader, it was the only thing that kept me from serious injury.
I understand the importance of t he seat belt however, to be honest I have a poor track record as well, usually not buckled up.
100% of the time. Not only is it our policy, but I have seen it save people. I always believed in seat belt use after growing up in the towing buisiness. Many cars came in where people died, and very little damage, and some cars came in nearly unrecognizable, but because of the belts no one died. When I started operating it was natural to wear a belt. I do recall one time, where I was only going to move the 450 Case dozer about 100 ft accross the site to get it out of the way so I could set more stakes, and it was on pretty level ground, so I didn't buckle up. I went over about a 4" drop, and that small machine pitched me out of the seat and my head into the ROPS. I thought I was going to pass out it hurt so bad. Since then, I buckle up even for a short distance. The machines are made to keep you safe, but only if you are inside of them. I once saw an operator?? in a 790 Deere excavator coming down a hillside without his belt on, and with the front glass open. He started to tip over, and lost control of the machine, as he was holding onto the sticks to keep from falling out the window. He finally let go of the sticks to grab the cab frame, and when it tipped far enough that the bucket settled into the ground, everything stopped, and he was hanging on for dear life. It nearly ended in a tragedy for this young operator, and after that, he grudgingly wore his belt. It does not matter if it is a car, truck, or ANY piece of equipment, it is designed to keep you safe if you are buckled into the seat where you belong. I could go on, but you can see it in the paper on a regular basis, ans I seen it just this morning, car rolls over, 1 person ejected and DIED AT THE SCENE, the other, in a seat belt, taken to hospital, treated for MINOR injuries, and released. I know I am on a soap box on this, but it is important to me, and to everyone here. Besides, it is hard to control your machine if you are bouncing around inside of it instead of securly fastened.
only if im working next to the edge of a very deep large hole...... but other wise nope, never its annoying because im jumping in and out of my equipment constantly, and im not gonna go flying outta my cab any time soon. If i do? Big deal Darwinism at work. I almost went over the edge of a large pond i was digging with a tracked loader.... pond was 15 or so feet at the time. Doubt i woulda been hurt if i did go, but thats the ONLY time i might have actually needed a seat belt. the edge was about to break away and i began moving away from the edge luckily in time, scared me xxxxxless, then i went back to work on the edge I have heard stories of tools running skidsteers full speed while plowing snow in a parking lot they didnt know , with sewer caps sticking up outta the blacktop, he caught it with an old skidsteer, and flew outta the cab, hurting himself severely.
I think it's a good idea to use all the safety equipment, however I have to admit I've never worn one.
We have a kind of different rule to most at work. When running dozer in the cells, we are not allowed to wear our seatbelts for safety reasons. That is the only time I do not wear mine, I'm really sticky about seatbelts. Brian
Brian I guess your job would be an exception to the rule. Most jobs on a dozer do not require a life jacket and an escape hatch. :spaz Stay on top of it!
Forgot to mention that I ALWAYS buckle up when loading and unloading or when working on a steep slope. I've been in some nasty places running an excavator with both cab door and front glass open to the point where I would have fallen out of the machine if I wasn't buckled in. I always tell people I like to put my machine in places where falling out of the seat easily occurs unless you're buckled in, I've recieved some strange looks with that remark.
I also forgot to mention that I do buckle up when operating a roller equipped with ROPS. This is a tough one for a lot of our people, as some want the freedom to bail ship if it starts to go over. We had one roll over last summer and the operator had his seat belt fastened. He walked away unhurt. I thoroughly believe that seatbelts should be used in any equipment. It just comes down to getting in the habit of buckling up when getting into your machine. I never got into this habit, and I was just plain lucky that I never got hurt.
i buckle up!
I was on a big job for GE Johnson last summer and they require seatbelts on their jobsite. I got so used to putting it on that I cant even run anything without wearing it now. Kind of like in a car. I feel like I am going to fall over and hit the steering wheel if I am not wearing one. I like that sense of security now. Now if there were some kind of leash that would keep me from falling when I try to exit my skid steer, I would be very happy. Those stupid snow buckets are slick when they get wet!!:Banghead
I have heard stories of tools running skidsteers full speed while plowing snow in a parking lot they didnt know , with sewer caps sticking up outta the blacktop, he caught it with an old skidsteer, and flew outta the cab, hurting himself severely.[/QUOTE] Did someone tell on me? I have been thrown out the front of My 975 bobcat when it hit an edge whell plowing at full speed. no injury but when plowing I now ware it. Also when lifting heavy objects or think I am in a situation ware I could get hurt. Most of the time I do not ware it except when on the highway.
I have a bad habitt of forgetting to buckle up. I say habitt because in the truck or car i always do. Working on it, and is always correct in educational settings. I think though that the producers could in many cases have produced a easier and more comfortable "strapp" than today. In many machines it is a narrow hipstrapp, with a strong tentioning system, that tightens more and more when you move a bit. So in some i feel squised after a while. I am just now looking at new seats with 3 point buckles, like the ones in trucks. There is some producers that make seats with the 3 point integrated in the seat. Will probably by a couple of seats, as a test, to see if it gives us a better security and comfort. I also beliewe that a 3 point will reduse the risk of head injury if you roll over. There is not much distance betwen the head and the rops in some machines.
If I am going to work on a slope or load any equipment on trailers i always buckle up, other then that, usually not.
I've had my feet on the front window frame a couple of times. Never gone out. I wore my seat belt for two days, operating a linkbelt 225 spin ace. I was pretty sure that I was going to either nose dive or get pushed off an 18' cliff. Scariest job I ever had. I had a steel worker tell me "you got heart dude!" After reading this thread, I'm going to start wearing it all the time.:notworthy
Always... Why? Well just say that I learned the hard way :cool2
When I was running backhoe I used to put it on because it helps you stay planted in the seat. After awhile you forget your wearing a seat belt untill you get up and pulled back down. I also wore it when running excavator it kept you from sliding out of your seat when working on slopes. I figure its there for a reason put it on so I do. We had a case here earlier this year where a yarder rolled over a hillside the operator wasn't wearing his seat belt but it was a flook he wasn't because when he got thrown out of the machine he landed in a area out of the way. If he rolled down the hill with the machine he would have died because the operator cab tore right off the machine. Its your choice you take the risk of a flying leap to safety jumping off of a machine that is tipping over.
I do not wear my seat belt because if I need to bail in a hurry, I dont want something holding me in. Driving rock trucks in areas that are high up off the ground, you deffinatly do not want to be in one if it goes over, other guys where I work have told stories of rock trucks droping 50 to 60 feet up, and the drivers always made it out of the trucks before going over.
I have never worn a seatbelt in my life on a machine. I run dozers on steep slopes all the time, I just keep my foot on the dash. Of course, one I run quite a bit doesn't even have a ROPS, so I don't think a seatbelt will help much.
If it doesn't have ROPS, hopefully it doesn't have a seat belt either.
New habbits are hard to get into! I had the machine off the trailer before I remembered that I was going to get into the habbit of wearing my seatbelt. I was in and out a lot today. I caught myself 5 or 6 times!
I don't unless things start to get hairy or the safety guy or one of the big wigs is coming my way.
I always wear mine. I hope everybody that is governed by MSHA realises that there is a Zero Tolerence policy in place regarding seatbelts. If you are caught without one, by a MSHA inspector, you will be fired AND possibly fined. FYI....:cool2
The only problem that I see with that, is while operating a person is always leaning ahead, shifting your body around sometimes get a better view, depending on what you are doing. Shoulder staps would limit your movement and I think that an operator would be cursing them especially when trying to lean ahead and the belt holds you there. It would have to be something that moved freely with the operator, but still...you know how picky operators can be
Depends totally on what I'm operating and what I'm doing. I never wear one if I'm operating a farm tractor in the fields or pushing snow with it, but if I take it into the woods to skidd with I buckle up. I never wear it if I'm operating a case skid steer with the lap bar, always wear it if I get stuck in another brand without a lap bar. Backhoe, it depends on what I'm doing, slope dictates seat belt. If I'm in a pan / scraper I buckle up before I start up. Never run them without being strapped in. Hit a decent bump and it might throw you from the seat. All In all I should probably wear them all the time, I know that it is a major benefit to have one on at the time of an accident. Problem is that they are a pain if your hopping on and off all the time. :usa All gave some, but some gave all. From a vet to a vet, thanks for serving.