These discussions built on earlier actions initiated by Skanska, ALLMI and HSE to communicate and address the hazard with the construction industry.
Following initial Safety Alerts to raise awareness and efforts to influence new equipment design by driving a revision to product standard, EN 12999, ALLMI and construction trade body the Tier One Health & Safety Forum have worked together to find the most effective ways of achieving the best possible level of safety on lorry loaders already in service. This has involved addressing the entrapment risk of certain types of swing-up stabiliser by agreeing a range of engineering measures and safety initiatives.
Tier one contractors have recently confirmed their complete acceptance criteria for lorry loaders with swing-up stabiliser legs, which is as follows: If any one of the following applies, then the lorry loader meets with tier one contractor requirements:
-Fixed control stations (including emergency control stations) are located outside of the swing-up arc of the stabiliser leg (on both sides of the vehicle).
-Fixed control stations (including emergency control stations) are located within the swing-up arc of the stabiliser leg, but a manufacturer or authorised representative approved technical solution is fitted that prevents the stabiliser beam from being fully retracted unless the leg is in the vertical / upright position.
-Stabilisers have a manually operated swing-up function (regardless of whether fixed control stations are located within the swing-up arc). Therefore, the stabiliser beam cannot be retracted with the leg in a horizontal position.
Should the lorry loader not comply with the above, then until the end of this year the retraction of swing-up stabiliser legs will need to be supervised by a ‘spotter’ (excepting Skanska sites, the policy for which remains unchanged), the provision of whom will be agreed on a case-by-case basis between the supplier and the site. From 14 November, both the Spotter for and Operator of this type of equipment will need to have completed ALLMI’s E-Learning Module on Swing-Up Stabiliser Safety, evidence of which will be requested by tier one contractor sites. As of 1st January 2023, lorry loaders that do not meet the above criteria will not be permitted to operate on tier one contractor sites.
“The E-Learning Module can be accessed free of charge via the ALLMI website [https://is.gd/asikux]. It consists of the user watching ALLMI’s Swing-Up Stabiliser Safety video and then answering a series of related questions. All questions must be answered correctly and once achieved the user is sent email confirmation of their pass. This email will contain a QR code, which, when scanned by site staff, will confirm the validity of Module completion,” says ALLMI technical manager Keith Silvester.
From 14 November, an equipment compliance register will start to be used, the ‘Swing-Up Stabilisers Compliance Register’. Via an online portal, manufacturers will upload details of lorry loaders with swing-up stabilisers that are compliant with tier one contractor requirements, and these machines will then be fitted with an ALLMI QR code sticker. When the QR code is scanned by site staff, the user will be taken to a page on the ALLMI website where, upon selecting the manufacturer and entering either the loader crane serial number or vehicle registration, confirmation is provided of the lorry loader’s compliance. ALLMI points out that some manufacturers are running their own QR code system.
ALLMI has recently launched its ‘Swing-Up Stabiliser Safety’ video. Aimed at Spotters and Operators of lorry loaders with swing-up stabiliser legs and developed as an integral part of ALLMI’s new E-Learning Module, the video’s release follows extensive work already carried out by ALLMI on this subject, including the publication of Safety Alerts, a Guidance Note, training scheme amendments and successfully lobbying for change to the European product standard, EN12999.
Alan Johnson, managing director of Palfinger UK and current Chairman of ALLMI, says: “We would like to thank our colleagues from the Tier One Health & Safety Forum for the drive, pragmatism, and impetus they have provided to this collaboration. Their work in helping us effectively understand their collective needs has enabled the UK Lorry Loader Industry to respond in a supportive and constructive way, meaning we have found and delivered solutions far more quickly than through a fragmented or individual approach.”
For more information, see also https://is.gd/yuripi
UPDATED 11 November. In response to feedback from ALLMI:
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-added qualification in QR code systems adding that some manufacturers use their own
14 November:
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