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Year:
Check out our latest news: Pain and Wisdom: Reflections on Lives Lost and Saved, IVES now offering train the trainer programs in Omaha, Nebraska, excavator incident and fines, die cast powered mobile equipment models, upcoming program calendar, Dinolift offers cold-weather tips for lifts, a question on WAV 60 Series equipment, interesting articles, and testimonials from our wonderful customers!
In this issue, we will be covering:
But first, check out all the places we are delivering training this month...
It’s that time of year again when the approach of the Holidays brings
the promise of cheer and good tidings for the present and future as
well as humble gratitude for the people and things in our lives that we
love and are fortunate enough to have been blessed with. It is also a
time of reflection and sadly for some, a time when the pain of loss is
often most sharply felt. I’d like to share a couple of personal
experiences that I feel exemplify both ends of the emotional spectrum
here and more importantly, how they changed the way I think and behave.
The first is a story I have shared before but it is as poignant today as
it was when it took place nearly 40 years ago. In the summer of 1981
two friends of mine took a part time, out of town gig doing odd jobs for
a friend of a friend who operated, among other things, a property
management company. They were supposed to be gone about three weeks but
that was cut short when one of them was thrown from the roof of a
building they were painting after contacting a live power line and was
killed.
As you can imagine, the news of my friend’s death rocked my 19-year-old
world to its core. Anger, disbelief, sadness, bewilderment and still
more anger took over my thoughts and emotions for a long time after
that. I think of all the things I’ve been lucky enough to experience
that he never did. Love, marriage, children, career, travel…life. He got
none of it. I also wonder how his parents and two sisters dealt with it
all these years; if I struggled with it, imagine how they felt. My
buddy’s life was gone in an instant that literally occurred at the speed
of light and deeply affected him and everyone that knew him, forever.
The years have blurred the memory and healed the rawness but I still
think about him and who he might have become had he got the chance. I
don’t know if we would have remained close or drifted apart and lost
contact had he lived, but what I do know is that I still think about
him, and I miss him.
The next story is also one I may have shared in the past but again, it’s
still relevant for the same reasons – it was life-altering. It was
Christmas day 1999 and my wife and new baby girl, who turned nine months
old that very day, had arrived at my in-laws after a 20-mile drive over
snowy winter roads. We were going through the usual hugs and kisses
upon arrival when my wife noticed she had forgotten a platter of food we
brought in our minivan and asked me to go get it. Back in the van, I
reached awkwardly across my daughter’s car seat, grabbed the platter and
as I lifted it out my elbow struck the car seat and to my absolute
horror, it moved. While cleaning the van the previous day I had removed
the car seat and when I put it back, I forgot to refasten it with the
seatbelt and restraint straps.
At this point I need to point out that the character in this story I
refer to as my daughter was much, much more to me than that. She was my
everything. Having a child was far and away the single most significant
and defining experience of my life. Her arrival gave me a sense of
purpose that I never imagined and fundamentally changed everything about
me from my perceptions of life and love to how I acted and what my
priorities were.
At the moment when I realized that I, a safety professional who made a
living expounding the virtues of mitigating risk and avoiding hazards,
had carelessly left the angel of my life vulnerable to such a high
degree of danger, I became dizzy and physically sick to my stomach. As I
sat there dazed on the floor of the minivan, the sound of my wife’s
voice calling from in the house jolted me back to a reality that I would
perceive differently then the one I left just moments before. After
reattaching the car seat and cinching down the restraint straps as tight
as I could, I returned to the house with the food platter in my sweaty
hands and mentally altered in ways I had yet to realize.
At this point you may question exactly what was ‘life-alerting’ about
these events where one life was lost and one was spared. While the
immediate reactions of anger over the loss of a friend and horror over
committing a careless error with so much at stake were emotionally deep
and intense when they occurred, the long-term effects they caused in
affecting my thoughts and actions forever after are of particular
interest here.
In the case of the loss of my friend, there were several lessons learned
that changed my perceptions, attitude and behavior from that day
forward. First, the arrogance and pure lack of humility of my
19-year-old self was obliterated, never to be seen again. I didn’t
exactly become Mr. Safety immediately afterward but I no longer believed
I was invincible and I certainly came to understand the logic behind
being safe. I’d like to think that shift in perception and thinking
alone has served me in ways that thankfully, I will never know. I also
learned that being safe wasn’t just about me. When my friend died, he
also hurt a lot of other people very badly and for a long time. He
didn’t mean to, but it taught me to think about what I’m about to do
before I do it and ask myself if I’m putting myself or anyone else at
risk. If I decide that I am, then I voice my concern and ask for help
which could take the form of PPE, training, developing safe work
procedures or any number of other actions to mitigate risk. I don't want
to get injured and I really don't want to die, but somehow I feel that
if I caused the injury or death of someone else, that might actually be
worse. Yet another effect of experiencing the pain of loss and seeing it
in others who have been left in its wake.
From a personal perspective, the most heartfelt lesson I learned was
that the experience of losing someone close to me clearly defined the
true meaning of ‘forever.’ I did not appreciate it at the time but as my
own life experiences have mounted with the passage of each year since
the event, I have become increasingly more capable of assessing what my
friend missed out on as each of my own experiences is yet another one he
will never know. My continuing life is the measurement I use to gauge
how much life he lost and it has given me a certain sense of
wisdom-born-of-tragedy that will continue to grow as long as I live –
exactly one lifetime.
With respect to the incident with my daughter’s car seat, one long-term
lesson was that the effort to work and live safely is an ongoing one.
One must continuously strive to be aware of and fight off enemies of
safety like hurriedness, complacency, apathy, fatigue and distraction.
Another unexpected and incredibly positive take-away from the car seat
experience was that it gave me a very clear perspective on how easily
accidents can happen and that, in turn, provided me with an elevated
sense of empathy toward those involved in them. Those changes in my
perspective and empathy proved to be extremely useful in my safety
career.
All too often I have witnessed and, occasionally, been guilty of, the
quick jump to blame and admonishment in connection with accidents. You
weren’t paying attention, you didn’t put on your PPE or, you took short
cuts. These are all examples of items that poor accident investigations
mischaracterize as ‘conclusions’ when they are really nothing more than
summary judgements of what happened with no information identifying why it happened or how to prevent it from happening again.
Those few nauseous moments of horror I experienced that Christmas
morning in the minivan were a stark lesson in humility; accidents can
happen to anybody, regardless of how prepared or capable they may be.
Causing an accident or near miss incident does not automatically
indicate carelessness, apathy or incompetence. In fact, studies have
shown the causes of damage and/or injury-producing events are often
rooted in the people involved becoming hurried, distracted or just not
knowing any better. Often these factors are influenced by workplace
conditions in which workers are over-burdened with too much work and/or
too many tasks, and most of all, lack of training. Identifying what
happened to cause an accident is important but identifying why it
happened is critical in preventing it from repeating.
We all slip up from time to time and make errors in judgement or even
miss things completely. We want to get the job done, get too focused on a
single outcome or just get caught up in the work. Once we know what to
do, we have to make the effort to do the right things as best we can. It
takes time and it can be difficult, but not nearly as difficult as
losing people is.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and best of the season to you, those you love and those who love you!
Rob Vetter / Director of Training / IVES Training Group
Convicted: Graham Bros. Construction Ltd., 297 Rutherford Road South, Brampton, Ontario.
Location of Worksite: A construction project in Caledon, at the intersection of King Street and Heart Lake Road.
Description of Offense: A worker was killed after being struck by the bucket of a excavator.
Date of Offense: January 14, 2019.|
Date of Conviction: November 9, 2020.
Penalty Imposed:
Background:
Source: www.news.ontario.ca
We have an extensive line of die cast scale models available for forklifts, mobile elevating work platforms, loaders and excavators. Each equipment model is made using heavy die cast with working components, realistic exterior and interior detailing. Available for CAT, Toyota, JLG, and Bobcat brands. Also available, our CASTLE Multifunction Model to help demonstrate capacity, stability and leverage to your operators. These die cast training aids are a terrific visual for every trainer to use as a training aid in their operator class. Link to browse or purchase our Models.
Dinolift has offered a checklist to help boom-lift owners make sure
their equipment is ready to work effectively in the frigid temperatures
of winter.
Maintenance: Make sure that all daily, monthly and yearly inspections are made in time.
Day-to-day checks: Proper washing and drying to ensure
clean surfaces. Protect the control center and the platform from snow
and ice whenever they are not in use. Always keep the lift free from
dirt, snow and ice. Make sure that you always have the battery charger
and engine heater cable available.
Tire pressure: Cold weather will cause tire pressure to
decrease. Take care to regularly check tire pressure to ensure the best
possible friction and driving conditions on different grounds.
Battery function: To ensure proper operation and long
service life of the batteries, it is recommended to always recharge them
at the end of each workday, especially in cold weather conditions.
Storing the batteries flat will shorten their service life, and flat
batteries also freeze easily.
Engine oil and winter-quality diesel fuel: In cold
weather, it is recommended that the engine is kept running to keep the
hydraulic oil warm. Avoid cold weather diesel problems by using winter
quality diesel during the cold season.
Check diesel filter: In cold weather, it is important
to check the diesel filter to make sure the paraffin present in diesel
hasn’t started to form wax crystals. These wax crystals can coat the
fuel filter elements quickly and thus drastically reduce fuel flow.
Lubrication of moving components: Check of hydraulic
oil classification to ensure sufficient viscosity in cold conditions. As
the temperature decreases, the viscosity can rapidly increase to the
point where the oil will no longer flow. It is recommended that
high-viscosity index oils be considered for cold temperature operation.
Winter standing and storage: If you leave the lift
standing for a longer period of time, we recommend propping it up to
release any load from the wheels and making sure the lift is protected
from the elements.
Cold-weather start-up procedure: 1. Let the power pack
run for a few minutes before starting the movements. 2. To ensure proper
operation of the valves, start with doing a few warm-up movements to
warm the oil in the cylinders. 3. Check that the limit switches and the
emergency descent devices are operational and clean. 4. Snow, sleet,
rain and ice will create a slippery ground. Always ensure your base is
stable before going up in a lift.
Source: www.dinolift.com
Free technical support for all IVES Certified Trainers!Question:
Is the Crown WAV 60 Series covered under the MEWP certification program?
Answer:
Hello Thomas,
Great question and glad you checked in with us. This type of equipment
is produced by several manufacturers that identify them as being built
in conformance with ANSI B56.1 standards. Therefore they are considered
to be Powered Industrial Truck (PIT) by the manufacturers at the moment.
This means all forklift rules & regulations for training and
operations apply as they could be considered to be Class 2, Narrow Aisle
Order Picker under the Industrial Truck Association (ITA)
Classifications.
There is a fine line between a MEWP and an order picker for sure, but
right now they are considered to be powered industrial trucks.
Of course, you would be well advised to follow the same advice that you
probably give the operators you train and check the manufacturer’s
operation manuals. There may be some information on things like
emergency lowering, use of personal fall protection systems and other
items that the manufacturer wants users to know that would be good to
get into your operator training.
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"I wasn't sure what to expect as I have been through a lot of boring
classes but found myself completely interested the entire time." Robby, Artcraft Equipment Inc.
"Fantastic program material! I have been operating power mobile
equipment for over a decade and was pleasantly surprised with how much I
learned." Jesse, Nutriva Group.
"Taking my training with IVES was a great choice. I feel more confident
not only understanding & operating machines but the safety aspect
has really made me understand safety from a higher perspective." Karina, GForm.
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