Construction work: Health and safety question

[PaxVobiscum]

Does the driver/operator of an excavator/crane or other similar piece of heavy plant require to wear a hard hat in the (caged and protected) cab at all times?
Obviously he/she would require to wear one if entering or leaving the cab on a construction site.

 

[Bletchleyite]

From observation usually the policy is "hard hat, boots etc to be worn between walking onto site and walking off site", as it's easier and clearer not to have exceptions.

If you don't wear it in the cab there's a risk you forget to put it on before getting out.

 

[73001]

I think quite ofter the whole site will require PPE (boots, hats, gloves etc) so whether you are walking or driving on the site you need it on. It stops you forgetting to put it back on when you get out of the cab.

 

[AndrewE]

I think quite ofter the whole site will require PPE (boots, hats, gloves etc) so whether you are walking or driving on the site you need it on. It stops you forgetting to put it back on when you get out of the cab.

It's also a rule that PPE shouldn't make a job more dangerous, so I would say that in the cab where there is no risk of head injury but a premium need for visibility and dexterity the crane driver should be comfortable and able to look around and move easily.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's also a rule that PPE shouldn't make a job more dangerous, so I would say that in the cab where there is no risk of head injury but a premium need for visibility and dexterity the crane driver should be comfortable and able to look around and move easily.

If the design of a hard hat reduces visibility significantly, it's the wrong design to be using *outside* the cab where you're more likely to need to look around to ensure something isn't about to whack you in the face. Let alone inside it.

 

[AndrewE]

If the design of a hard hat reduces visibility significantly, it's the wrong design to be using *outside* the cab where you're more likely to need to look around to ensure something isn't about to whack you in the face. Let alone inside it.

Outside the cab you can turn your upper body as well as your neck and you haven't got a restricted space around your head either. In the cab you have a fixed seat and a set of controls in front of you so being able to turn your head easily without any unnecessary restraint would be a priority for me.
The PPE at Work Regs 1992 say

Assessment of personal protective equipment

6.—(1) Before choosing any personal protective equipment which by virtue of regulation 4 he is required to ensure is provided, an employer or self-employed person shall ensure that an assessment is made to determine whether the personal protective equipment he intends will be provided is suitable.

(2) The assessment required by paragraph (1) shall include—

(a)an assessment of any risk or risks to health or safety which have not been avoided by other means;

(b)the definition of the characteristics which personal protective equipment must have in order to be effective against the risks referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, taking into account any risks which the equipment itself may create;

Given that the driver is in a cab -which is your protection "by other means" - what extra protection is a hard hat going to offer? In my view (admittedly only 30 years qualified in this area) to insist on extra clobber is self-defeating and more likely to increase risks. Unfortunately lots of poorly-qualified writers of risk assessments and the safe systems of work that should follow the RAs can't see it either.
Now if your man is walking round the site with a hand-held radio controller, I would agree with you, as you are reducing the risk by letting him get closer to the actual lift. In this case it would probably be better to have a special hard hat with no peak though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Given that the driver is in a cab -which is your protection "by other means" - what extra protection is a hard hat going to offer?

It's more that if you're already wearing it, you can't forget to put it on. It is always sensible to mitigate against human error, as this is the cause of most accidents.

 

[AndrewE]

It's more that if you're already wearing it, you can't forget to put it on. It is always sensible to mitigate against human error, as this is the cause of most accidents.

I agree to some extent but it is more important to make it easy to do a job safely than it is to try to impose blanket rules which actually make some things less safe.
I'm sure that if someone is intelligent enough to drive a crane then they can get into the habit of putting it on as they leave their cab. To help, I would arrange things so that the hat hung on the cab door handle, or some such place, so that it had to be handled to get out. A tape across the door that had to be unhooked to get out with a sign saying "HAT" would help form the habit.
It may be that crane drivers are quite happy to wear hats all the time, or that they take them off in the cab but management can't see them so don't make an issue of it.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Your contributions are all most helpful, folks.

[cryptic mode]I now feel better able to make a decision about a matter which is potentially very important to someone else. [/cryptic mode]

It would appear that no action is required on my part.

 

[Curtis]

You'd like to think that the cab had more protective properties than the hard hat so I'd be tempted to say take it off. Plus the aforementioned visibility issues etc.

I had a similar argument some years ago whilst working on the roofs.... But let's not get off topic

 

[DarloRich]

Does the driver/operator of an excavator/crane or other similar piece of heavy plant require to wear a hard hat in the (caged and protected) cab at all times?
Obviously he/she would require to wear one if entering or leaving the cab on a construction site.

The honest answer is that it varies and often depends on the company running the site. I have seen/been on sites where a hard hat was required AT ALL TIMES and sites where the hat could be removed IF the operative was in a fully enclosed cab. I think that kind of exemption is covered by the "protection by other means" clauses in regulations but I am not an HSEA expert. That doesn't remove the requirement to wear gloves, boots, ppe or the hat when out of the cab or if not contained within a fully enclosed cab such as a dump truck.

As an aside is this a domestic/commercial construction site?

PS @AndrewE is spot on in my view.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

As an aside is this a domestic/commercial construction site?

Commercial. This has arisen a few times, but that's all I'm saying on a public forum.

 

[DarloRich]

Commercial. This has arisen a few times, but that's all I'm saying on a public forum.

fair enough. if worried you can contact the HSE: http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/concerns.htm