The story surrounding this job can be found on our News Page, but let's have a look at the Health & Safety implications of this job.
You want to change LED lighting panels in one of the busiest railway stations in central London. You need a machine which will give you a lot of outreach at a low level over an escalator. You talk to a hire company and they survey and recommend a tracked spiderlift. Prices are good, you book the machine. What next?
How do you fulfil your Health and Safety responsibilities? Who are you responsible for? What happens if someone gets stuck in the machine?
First steps are to complete a risk assessment. There are some good templates on the web - not least on the HSE website where there is an interactive tool which results in a printable risk assessment. If you're ever in doubt, it can be a good idea to work with an external consultant - we use Sigerson Associates. We can't all be experts at every aspect of running a business; so outsource those areas you know are a weakness for you.
Your risk assessment should highlight any areas where you need to take action to protect your employees, the public, yourself and anyone else who may come into contact with your work or work area. In this example the contractor identified that his employees did not have the required training or experience required to operate the spiderlift. Hiring an IPAF qualified operator from Higher Access resolved this issue - and gave the contractor one less thing to worry about, especially as he was working in tight confines above an escalator.
Next, what about a competent person to be on the ground in case of emergency? Along comes Higher Access operator, number two!
So what if the machine breaks down or fails? Well, your banksman is now in place so he can use the emergency procedures (from the Operators Manual) to lower the machine safely to rescue the operator in the cage. But now your machine is stuck in the middle of Kings Cross Station and has to be out of the way of the public by 4am.... Emergency breakdown cover - with a dedicated number for an engineer on call - can be provided for instances such as this.
One of the most essential factors when working with MEWPs onsite is to ensure ground conditions are safe and able to support the machine's weight and loadings. The contractor obtained the safe loadings for the floors the machine was to drive and set up on, then worked with Higher Access to ensure these were not exceeded. The use of 600mm square nylon spreader pads helped to reduce the outrigger point loads to this end. We can supply spreader pads with all our machines as we believe they are crucial when working with spiders - the importance of this cannot be underestimated.
The contractor also needed to ensure that no unauthorised persons entered the work area. A fairly simple task in this instance as the machine was working in pedestrian areas. Cones and pedestrian barriers were utilised to create a safe margin around the machine; the banksman also kept an eye out!
There are of course many factors individual to each job which need to be taken into account on a case-by-case basis, we've highlighted just a few.
As it was, the job ran smoothly with no emergencies or breakdowns and all work was completed... but if it hadn't the contractor had already ensured all contingencies were in place.
What's that phrase someone reminded me of earlier? Perfect planning prevents.... poor performance!!!
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