CROSSHIRE
WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?
When the tool and small equipment hire industry came of age in the late 1970s, many companies, both large and small, started to canvass for business from Joe Public - now officially termed ‘consumers’. They had heard about the high level of such business being transacted by the more mature rental industry in North America, where it appeared that trade with the public produced an easy and attractive income stream.
Unfortunately for us, this enthusiasm was not matched by a commitment to the high levels of care that were being demanded. Around 30 years ago, our industry was shaken by a survey conducted by the consumer magazine Which? Its journalists hired kit from various outlets and had the audacity to have it tested for safety by independent experts. Our industry was found wanting, with a high percentage of the tools and equipment being discovered with faults - some of which could have caused injury, or worse.
Our fledgling trade association, the HAE, was caught wrong-footed and attempted to defend the indefensible. The fallout was picked up by national newspapers and our industry was pilloried. Over the years, Which? has repeated this exercise every few years and the results have, on the most part, been depressing. There is no longer ANY excuse for our sloppy inaction.
The latest Which? survey, in its April 2010 issue, found a whole list of problems with equipment from various hire companies, including prominent nationals. I can assure those of you who have not been around as long as I have, that nearly all the faults were repeats from past surveys. Incredible as it might seem, one national hirer, is said to have supplied a wallpaper stripper possessing exactly the same problem for which it had been castigated in a survey a few years ago! Split hoses, bypassed fuses, cable damage and missing riving knives feature in this infamous list many times.
It’s no good looking for scapegoats or excuses. After the first debacle, HAE moved quickly to offer advice, set up an assessment scheme for members and to make aids such as leaflets available. The need to actively offer PPE and a
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demonstration was rammed home. Wind the clock forward to 2010 and I know that most of the companies named in this latest survey have spent fortunes on staff training and manuals, trying to ensure that all kit is hired in a safe condition, fit for purpose and, where non-professional punters are concerned, advice and demonstrations given. Gentlemen, those of you running significant players in our industry appear to have given the nod to your staff to throw away the manual and forget their training. Five of those named by Which? are in EHN’s current Top Ten Tool Hirers list and the image conveyed affects us all.
I have been banging on for years that it is our people that matter. We cannot motivate them unless we get sensible returns, but no one will pay the right rate if they believe substandard kit is on our shelves. You cannot dismiss this by claiming most of your trade is commercial. The buyers and site agents from the largest organisations are all consumers when they leave work. They have every right to consider that an industry issuing
dodgy kit to the public might also supply it to their sites! I have no axe to grind, but, over the years, many of you have grunted and grumbled about the activities of HSS. I think they deserve our thanks for being the only national hirer to come out of the current survey with no major problems reported. Following a bad review many years ago, HSS (then led by Lister Fielding) shook the business apart to ensure Which? would never again find them wanting.
Other large outfits might do well to emulate this success. If you run multiple outlets, one of the greatest priorities is consistency. On a more practical note, might I suggest it is a sobering statistic that a high proportion of potential problems with electrical machines involve issues with the plug, fuse or cable. Go back to basics: ALL plugs should be opened EVERY time and checked for correct cable termination and fuse rating. Cables likewise need a visual inspection. It’s not high-tech, and it’s boring - but until we get it right, consumer surveys will continue to have a field day. Our suppliers have improved equipment safety and quality immensely since the first Which? reports. It is on OUR premises that the problems have arisen, and we cannot blame anyone but ourselves.
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