I,m doing a job for a large construction company P*L and there safety guy comes up to me and ask me some question no problem things like log book for the machine and stuff .Then he says to me how do you fuel your machine up and check the oil we have a 6 ft rule i all most fell out the machine (but i had my seat belt on ) so what he's telling me i cant climb up on my machine to check the fluids with out a safety procedure :Banghead. i told him i stand on the cat walk to fuel it thats ok its only 4:5ft high and that the machine has sensor for the fluids ointhead any body else had this happen?????????
Are you working in a mine area? Here in state i deal with that bs from MSHA , (mine saftey health administration) lots of regulations. Its enough to make a guy quit.
nope just a regular site up he in BC
The inspector was doing his job. Most operator injuries occur from slipping off or jumping down from the machine. A lot of guys get injured from slipping and falling off their machines. It's not always a soft landing, either. It's a more common work accident than falling out of your seat:tong. When you've got muddy boots or the no skid pads are iced over, things can be a little dicey. Gravity is a cruel mistress.
It truely is run amuck. That is what happens when you have do nothing burocrats that know nothing or have never done anything writting the laws.
ive had a safety woman tell me that after she watched me fuel up a cat 320 , she said why arent u tied off weres your fall pretection, so i my feet aren't above 6ft and i have a hand rail...plus i said if i was tied off i would it the ground before the the harness caught me !.....ive seen alot of safety people only know whats in the book not how to put in to use in the field..... funny story this same person said when we were working in a stream (not even over work boots) we needed PFD's on ,stating we were working around water so we needed them on, when if u "fell in" you'd need a helmet for all the rocks not a life vest
We were two shifting in a coal mine when the loader operator decided on his own that he needed light plants in the area to work safely. We didn't agree that it was necessary and told him if he couldn't operate the machine safely we would find someone who would. He called MSHA who came out and cited us for not enough light. Our engineer took the matter to the administrative law judge and showed him the actual rule and the amount of lights on the loader. The law judge chewed out the inspector and through the matter out and made MSHA pay all the costs. From that time forward I've always made the snoots prove their point by showing me the rule or law in an actual written form. Almost all the time they don't know the rule and are just throwing their weight around. I don't want anyone to get hurt and will always comply to a sensible solution. I will no longer just keep my mouth shut and take that kind of crap from the snoots anymore.
I worked in a chemical plant, they had asinine rules 1' above or below ground. we had to change light bulbs in an office.. 6' ladder standing on the 1st or 2nd step.... you guessed it... Dinged... for no fall protection..... go get harness and landyard ....hook to ladder.... Dinged again ...I'm an idiot.... there is absolutely no place to tie off... they finally decided that the fall protection wouldn't work... digging in the place was a nightmare.... anyone going into the ditch had to wear tyvex suit and an escape air bottle.... One foot or deeper.... also had to carry a chemical mask at all times..everywhere in the plant... Just as we were finishing the job , they were starting the Nomex suits policy... you had to change out of street clothes and wear their stuff, I was told... then at the end of shift you had to shower before you left.. then change into your street clothes... I know the place had nasty chemicals but I thought that was a bit extreme... glad to have gotten out of that mess.... before the suit change.
I have had a little to much to drink just now but I will be back.
Is that what you said to your safety officer?
Tell them that the only reason that they are walking around the job site is that you have not been cleared to bury them yet. Any questions?
:lmao
stock, stock!! Wake up, it's been 5 hours... OCR...
yes i have came across this same thing before when i have asked about checking fluids like on the old 235's 245's where you had to stand on the counterweight to check the oil,usually they don't answer or they say just make sure you use the handrails,the other thing is,that MSHA says not just 6ft but any where there is a danger of falling even if your are lower than 6ft,all i can say is please don't make me where a full body harness to check the fluids...confession time, i did fall off a 245 counter weight it is a long way down ointhead
Haha - that's funny. Some of these kids don't know how slippery a wet 200 series Cat counterweight is.
your right those counter weights do get slippery i fell off a 225 one before no as high as a 245 but it hurt hitting that rozen dirt. I almost did it again but i caught my self on the hand rails scary stuff
OOOO! caffeine and paracetamol please ,and why did you call me so early on a holiday?
A lot of this garbage is also caused by the manufacturers of the so called "safety equipment." At last spring's MSHA annual training class I found that all of the safety vests and shirts I bought the year before were obsolete because the specifications had been changed. Had a speaker there from one of the manufacturers telling us about the new standards and how we would be sited and fined if we did not upgrade. It seems that the manufacturers go to the legislatures and tell them about all of their new products and redesigned products and how superior they are to the previous stuff. Oh yes, and here is money for your campaign fund for the next election. Soooooooo, the law gets changed to make us spend a bunch more money. Same goes for all of the certification programs. A number of years ago I was sited along with my crew in Oregon State because we were not certified to work "high iron" in the state of Oregon. In other words, did not take a class in the State of Oregon. When I asked who would teach the class I was told a "certified instructor" taught it. Next I asked what the qualifications for the "certified instructor" were. The answer was the instructor took a class to become a "certified instructor." Does the instructor need journeymen status as an iron worker? Nope, just the class. Same for equipment operators and the like. Real bloody stinking joke. This legislation has spawned a complete industry of manufacturers, instructors and the like that has achieved asexual reproduction and growth. All because of a bunch of companies that make this stuff and provide training jumping in the sack with the politicians.
No were just not so old and senile that we can't walk on them without falling off. I've never been harassed about fall protection when checking out our Iron. And the day I do is the day they can move me into the office.
No one mentions safety railings for their machines.....do you have these over there ? If you do have them, are they not sufficient ?:beatsme
I was told by a deere rep that they are required to wear fall protection to access the top of the house on their 450s and such. I couldn't believe it at the time, but i guess its going around. I am in southern Ontario. It is pretty obvious these people and organizations are simply justifying their jobs.
In all seriousness - we should put ourselves in their shoes, at least slightly. If we get hurt, it IS a reflection on them, and it appears they are not doing a good job of protecting us. If you try to keep this in mind next time, it will really help you from wanting to choke the stuffing out of them.
No, alrman, they are not sufficient. Get in the basket of a manlift. Even though the rail comes up waist high you still need a harness. If you run a grader standing you are supposed to wear a harness. If sitting on the seat, seat belt required. ' This country has gotten so carried away with reflector vests, hard hats, glasses, harnesses, backup and foreword alarms, steel toe shoes, strobe lights, face shields, ear plugs and the like that it is impossible to hear, see, or move out of "Harms Way." We are not fricking idiots that can't watch and hear what is going on around us and know what the hazards are.
We can thank the lawyers for that - who always leech off of our insurance companies.
I had thought of composing a big spiel on health and safety and since my first post I have been working on it when a thought struck me "KISS" keep it simple stupid so I want to see if you can constructively answer this question, Why do we have safety at work legislation? may have more questions to follow we will see.
well let see i was probably about your age when i fell off it so i guess i'm just clumsy i don't know if you run a dozer like in your avatar but most mines i have been in already have chains outside the cab to keep operators from falling off and talk to any dozer operator on here that's ran a wide track dozer in the snow see how fun that is getting in and out(mabe you have)even getting on top of a 300 series hoe when it is icey can be very slick.
just read the posts...very funny these safety people...had one guy ask me if i had a quick hitch ticket(training)...been changing buckets for years with and without quick hitch...how hard is it?..they have to justify their jobs i know safety is paramount these days but most of the time these guys are a waste of space(my opinion) i have no time for them..
the same time he was asking me about the saftey stuff he asked me if i a ticket to run this machine or was i just a labour jumping in to do the job:Banghead in BC as far as i no there is no ticket for running heavy equipment , so i asked my boss he said they just fax the a note on company letter head saying im a certified operator !! and there happy with that . my machine does'nt have a mark on it at just over 3000hrs i asked him if it looked like a machine that was inexpreisend operator he said no there your answer
In the UK most main contractors are using a yellow/red card system for safety breaches. Red = severe and your straight off, no arguing. Yellow = minor/moderate but if you get two yellow you're now a red and off LOL. Like football (Soccer for US ) When I say off, I mean off the job for good and in most cases black listed on all that main contractors future sites. I got a yellow (My first) for refuelling an Hitachi 225 and I found it insulting to say the least. The thing is, there is no point arguing in my opinion. I know its tempting to get all high and mighty, but what you have to ask yourself is... Is it worth your job? Your employers reputation? Your companies chance of future contracts? The answer is no for all the above. Health and safety is here to stay so get on with it. I think if you feel a health and safety 'idea' is impeding you its something for your supervisor/ employer to do something about. Put the ball in their court.
yep that is pretty much all you can do it's like the safety guy at work told me about one of the mines we were working at he say's you can try to argue but the bottom line is we as contractor(the company i work for)sign a contract that we know the safety rules and we know what is expected of us so how do you argue with that.
Over erein Oz as of Jan 2010 all excavators and loaders/IT tool carriers etc that lift suspended loads, ie pipes/manhole components etc must have check valves in the hyd system to prevent load drop in the event of a hose burst. The CO I am with just bought a new PC 300-8 with all the gizzmos on it and have to fit all the stuff on to the loaders etc in the drainage division to make them legal at great expense for all concerned, the rail around the engine compartment is also in the pipeline. Have also heard that if they dont have drop valves the lifting eyes have to be removed which then means that to tow something out of a bog it will be back to hooking the tow line around the teeth like used to be done in the good old days as there will be no proper pulling point any more. The other thing is the excavator had to have was a quickhitch that had a fail safe locking mechanisim as the manual lock pin is no longer legal.
I know that in the U.K and Ireland, Most of the major quarries insist that Excavators have Extra rails added to the upper structure with toe kicks aswel! Some even go as far as extra width walk ways with rails down each side for servicing etc! Had a heated discussion about this with a safty guy one morning when he suggested that we should be wear a fall arrest system when working at heights i.e on the upperstucture of an excavator!!! I ask ''were do we hook it to'', then he thought for abit and suggested that with should have scaffold up when working up there, fair enougth so should an operator have scaffold when doing daly checks i asked.... he never really give me an answer!! Never seen him since:beatsme Dont get me wrong im not disregaurding health and safety in any with, but you need to draw the line somewhere!
most of them are just jobsworths...not got alot time for them...safety is paramount i agree but most of these guys can't do the job themselves so they **** others off instead...scaffold around the machine when you fuel it whatever next, 3 point entry/exit has always been a safe method whether you got mud on your boots or not....in my case i like to wear slippers in the cab and get the diesel jockey to fuel it.(haha)
All this safety talk about slip and fall situations and what not, well I got a question. Where the hell was the health and safety person this morning when I was laying on my back after slipping on the ice on the way to my machine? I was laying there and thinking to my self “if I were tied off this would not have happened to me” Then I thought O yeah I was walking on level ground. O well, I got up and brushed my self off and continued on my way to the machine and checked it out and fired her up and left her warm up for a while.
Never seen an excavator with tail lights...
Could you just dig a hole and park in it? Then it would be ground level.That should make them think.
It's socialism, pure and simple. Many in our world no longer feel that they have to be responsible for their actions and if they get hurt they want the government to bail them out. In the states we have now come to the point where it looks like we will soon have national health care. Many people seem to want the government to run everything. And if this happens then this episode we are talking about here will seem like a very minor thing. If we can't think for ourselves or take care of ourselves and expect the government to provide everything, then they will. But I can gaurantee it will be much more than any of us want. It will be total control. Just my humble opinion.
That all might be true, but I asked my MSHA inspector how many people were killed in mining operations in Minnesota last year, and his answer was zero. I than asked him how many bicyclers where killed in Minnesota last year, his answer was Seven! If that sport is that much more deadly than mining (this includes gravel pits) dont you think the eforcement monies would be better spend teaching you how to properly ride a bike?:cool2
Yes, I agree. My post was really meant as a means of protecting safety inspectors.....from getting the stuffing choked out of them.
The big difference is the fact that workers are covered by insurance when they are on the job ( WorkSafeB.C.). Insurance companies don't like to pay, they just like to collect premiums. If a company has a claim, their premiums will be raised until they pay the cost of it. It seems like the premiums are mostly spent on lawyers, buildings and inspectors.
Now your talking...God bless lawyers and their huge contributions to society.
All these OSH regs are designed to protect ****wits,end of day you can't do that.Inexperienced people go to day course,get licence ,now legal. Experienced operator ,no licence,illegal,that is issue for some people in NZ i.e. agriculture. You wonder if these policy bureaucrats were clever pricks at school,go on to varsity (real clever pricks),then get office job and never worked in real world. Geoff
You have to have them to get you Safety Inspection Sticker. For when your driving down the Highway.Allso Brake lights and Turn Signals. Realy a lot of the new machines heve them now.So far I haven't seen them on Dozers yet.But they will be next.
These Lawyers are why a lot of people get hurt.Day dreaming about the big money.So many claim to be hurt that the Insurance Company's will hire somebody to follow you around with a Video Camera.Which is a good thing.To many people claiming to be hurt makes it hard on the Company and anyone that really gets hurt.
Sounds like U have Goverment on your back bunch commies nothing else to do but look where they can steer s***t up.........it is in the budget to have safety inspector that don't know how the equipment works ............
i think one of the biggest problems is the goverment makes the rules then these indvidal companies like the one i,m doing the job for decided they know better and can go one step further so if WCBs height is 10ft they will make it 6ft soon we wont be able to climb in owe machines !!!!!:Banghead. For me to check my oil they wont me to right up a full report on how i intend to climb up there and the check my oil ?????? saftley and then climb back down. luckly i run a new JD350D it has level sensors then once a week i walk the machine out of there area and visual check it
Just make sure you dont walk/track over anybody on the way