Two Plant Operators Die in Recent Weeks

In a month where the rest of the nation are looking forward to the razzle and dazzle and excitement of December and all that it brings, and Christmas and New Year and festive parties galore, there are some, who unfortunately, through no fault of their own, have had their lives torn apart, having received the news that their loved ones have died at work.

There are many that sadly die on our roads daily and workplace deaths branch all business sectors, and are certainly not restricted to the construction industry, but two deaths that have occurred in recent weeks were of Plant Operators.  Brief outlines are;

• A plant driver died at a Northumberland quarry on Saturday when his machine fell into deep water. The accident happened at Longhoughton Quarry, Longhoughton Road, Lesbury in Alnwick. Northumbria police said the driver of an excavator went into a hole which filled with water.

• A mini digger driver has died after falling 100ft in his machine during demolition work on the former Cadbury’s chocolate factory in Keynsham, near Bristol. The worker died instantly and police officers and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating. The Bristol Evening Post said the accident happened just before 5.30pm on Wednesday 9 November 2011 but, due to concerns about safety, police and emergency services had to return to the scene on Thursday 10 November 2011 to recover the body of the man, who was believed to have been in his 20s or 30s and from Wales.

Lighthouse Safety acknowledges that the very nature of plant operations is dangerous and as such, there are the obvious requirements for all persons involved in these work processes to be competent.

This includes those involved in planning and design of work, those that deliver machinery, banksmen, slingers signallers, those who have checked the ground or structure for stability and for obstructions (both overhead and underground), service and maintenance staff, and those that conduct statutory checks, not forgetting the operators, who should not only be competent but hold appropriate industry qualifications eg CPCS or NPORS.  Trained contentious operators religiously conduct daily pre start and close down checks on their machinery, and ensure that any faults are not only recorded but are fixed in a timely manner too.

Lighthouse Safety are one of only a few training organisations that run the Construction Skills PMSTS course, this course aims to train plant managers, plant instructors, plant inspectors, workshop managers, project managers, agents and persons who are, or about to be responsible for planning, organising, monitoring, controlling and administering staff, teams and workforce.  It is also mandatory for all CPCS tutors and examiners.

We are not alluding that the personnel involved in the two separate incidents were not trained – that is not for us to comment on, but simply pointing out the advantages of ensure that staff involved in managing Plant do receive the correct training to enable them to make fully informed decisions.