With Vertikal Days on the horizon next week, discussion in the HLS office has turned to our packing list!
- Outrigger pads
- Harnesses
- Risk assessments & method statements
A quick glance down it shows that we are taking health & safety seriously at this show, we will make sure adequate outrigger pads are employed under the legs of our tracked and truck-mounted platforms, we will insist on harness wearing for anyone who wants to go up in the basket, and we will have experienced operators on hand to operate all of our equipment.
As members of IPAF we take our responsibility to spread best practice quite seriously, while we respect our customer's right to decide on their own practices we always want to advise current thinking, and will signpost people to resources to help them - such as the IPAF outrigger selection tool, or their guidance on harness use in MEWPs.
But not all companies in the industry take this view - there are often comments on missing outrigger pads, missing harnesses, crane operators giving "rides" to show visitors etc... (just take a look on vertikal.net for examples) all to a greater or lesser extent contradicting the messages the industry is trying to put out. Is this their prerogative, or is there an obligation on the industry to put health & safety at the forefront of everything we do, even if it treads on the toes of our marketing efforts?
