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FREE FALLING FALL GUY

17th November 1994
Page 7
Page 7, 17th November 1994 — FREE FALLING FALL GUY
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

If the good Lord had meant us to fly he'd have given us wings—which would have made life easier for all those tipper drivers who are still sheeting their vehicles manually. Since the Environmental Protection Act made sheeting compulsory, says the Health & Safety Executive, there have been "numerous accidents" involving drivers falling off wagons. How numerous? If you average out the HSE's annual figures between 1986-1992, falls from vehicles and tankers kill two drivers a year; 40 suffer "major" injuries from falls; and 55 need more than three days off from work. The statistics are shameful. Leaving aside the considerable pain and suffering caused by fatal falls, can productivity-conscious tipper operators really afford all those lost man hours when a driver reacquaints himself with Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravity? It's hard to understand why the HSE didn't insist that mechanical sheeting systems be incorporated within the EPA when sheeting became mandatory three years ago. It would certainly have helped remove the need for drivers to become amateur mountaineers.

hat's more, given that the average loading shovel operator isn't particularly interested in ensuring there's a nice flat load in the back of a tipper most drivers have no choice but to clamber up and start shovelling. If a mechanical system is to work properly a level load will be vital: mechanical sheeting systems can only work with good loading practices. Whether we like it or not, for the foreseeable future tipper drivers will be climbing into tipper bodies. But surely the industry can at least ensure that drivers who have to climb can do so with the minimum risk. That means installing proper loading gantries at quarries and ergonomicallydesigned steps on tipper bodies. Mechanical sheeting systems are just the first step to stopping tipper drivers becoming fall guys.

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