Look Before you Reverse
Ensuring operators are in the habit of looking BEFORE they reverse and not distracted will help ensure the safety of your operations. Some thoughts from the field.
Overview
Seems almost too obvious to make mention of doesn’t it? Yet every year, both at work and in our private lives, people get themselves in trouble though not bothering to look before they reverse.
Sometimes that is BIG trouble (by way of example, there have been two kids killed in my city over the Xmas period as a result of their parents reversing over them).
These type of incidents generally occur for two reasons:
- Didn’t look
- Distracted
Let’s take these up and see what can be done.
Didn’t look
I watched a loader operator reversing without looking. I asked him what was going on. He told me ‘I don’t need to look because no-one should be in my work area’.
At best, the guy was an optimist. at worst, he was a serious accident waiting to happen.
It just can’t be that way – this sort of behaviour has to be stamped out.
Closely allied with ‘didn’t look’ is probably ‘difficult to look’. The sheer bulk of some machines makes this a challenge (as can missing mirrors, dirty windows, lack of lighting etc.).
This said, there are some tremendous systems out there like the Cat WAVS (Work Area Vision System) that integrates cameras and monitors into the machine.
Better still, Object Detection systems (radar/ultrasonic) and even systems that will detect personnel by tags they wear.
No matter what system (or not) is in place, the operator still has to look first. Only then engage reverse, once the way is clear.
Distracted
Distractions come in many forms. Two-way radios, music radios, passengers, ‘finishing the page’ before driving off, ‘trouble at home’ etc.
The reality is that we are surrounded by distractions while on a machine and it VITAL that we filter these out.
If you think about it, much of the work we do in ‘Fitness for Work‘ type programs is designed to ensure that if someone is at work, there is more than just their body present.
It might be considered ‘old-fashioned’, ‘unreasonable’ and ‘objectionable’ for a supervisor or manager to point this out (sometimes with exclamation marks), but people are paid to come to work and put their full attention on the job during their shift.
Action Item(s)
- Make it a firm rule that operators/drivers must look BEFORE reversing.
- Ensure that machines are NOT allowed to go to work with missing mirrors, cameras. detectors etc.
- Investigate new generation work area detection systems and fit them where possible.
- Ensure that operators and drivers know that when they are at work, they are ‘at work’ and have their mind on the job.
Summary
It does need to be said – ‘look before you reverse’. Someone’s life might depend on it.
This is part of an ongoing series of posts on the fundamentals of Load & Haul. Please feel free to use this material for tool box talks or to create your own procedures and training materials as long as you acknowledge the author. Copyright 2017 Cement & Aggregate Consulting
Industrial Minerals & Mining Engineer | Project Management | Plant Management | Plant Rehabilitation
5 年Great Article
Director Mining at Matrix Energy
8 年Considerably helpful, thanks Steve.
Mining /Construction professional
8 年Pay attention to work areas, work on flat benches, look in mirrors when reversing and obeying the authorized access are all priority one rules when operating heavy machinery. In my experience it is the mining engineer or geologist that is so focused on their role they forget the dangers of operating machinery. Excellent article
Principle Finance Broker at Focus Loan Choices
8 年great article & spot on Steve.... in my experience the simplest & most effective way to check is use the mirrors.... quite often heard the work area comment from experienced operators.... companies have the official rules.... operators develop their own unofficial rules & the work area is a great example of this.
Mining /Construction professional
8 年Definitely in the public sector but in mine sites its pretty difficult to operate a front end loader and look behind over 100 times per shift when bulking out stockpiles. Exclusion zones prevent unauthorized access and saves the FEL operators neck.