One of a fleet of five Ransomes Spider bought specifically for bank work by Leeds City Council
a place in our own work environment, but, as it was a unique design, I needed more information before I would commit to a purchase,” he recalls. “I contacted one of our hire suppliers who agreed to buy the machine and hire it to the council for six months so that I could evaluate it in real working time conditions. We decided to bring in five machines in 2005 as a result, and now we use them in a number of parks and open spaces throughout the city,” he adds. Chris is confident that Leeds has in place a safety policy to guard against the worst-case scenario. “All our sites are mapped and have site-specific risk assessments,” he notes. “All inclines on sites are measured with an inclinometer to test the gradient and, from this, a detailed machine list is drawn up.” Paul Woodham, Course Manager at Gay Hill Golf Club, South Birmingham, and training and education coordinator for the Midlands section of BIGGA, is one who has long believed in the need to address the potential health risks that machinery vibration poses to the user. “The main concerns with ride-on and hand-held machines are the issues of hand-arm vibration and whole body vibration (WBV), although the effects that ride-on mowers have with regard to WBV is pretty minimal,” he says. “Hand-held machines such as strimmers, chainsaws and brush cutters are the ones that pose the most concern to the user,” he continues. “The best ways to help combat these problems is a combination of good job rotation practice, a thorough and well-planned risk assessment of the equipment and a well trained and educated staff. It is imperative that the staff understand the equipment they are using.” The best plan of action for clubs, Paul
maintains, is to look at the manufacture data supplied, employ a system of trials with various machines and offer good operator training. One concern frequently voiced with machine safety is the availability and provision of good safety equipment that guards against damage to the operator from prolonged machine use. But as Paul states: “There is really nothing on offer, product-wise, that can beat good staff training.”
As far as protective equipment is concerned what’s on the market “largely either doesn’t work or actually exacerbates the problem”, he states. “For WBV, there is no protection
currently available and, for hand-arm vibration, some hand protectors are on the market but these are, for the most part, just heavily padded gloves that the user often finds cumbersome and will sometimes result in them having to squeeze harder, causing the vibrations to have a greater adverse affect.” “The long and the short of it is - there
just isn’t really any evidence to suggest that so-called ‘anti-vibration’ equipment actually works, so I wouldn’t recommend that anyone employs them solely as a means of safety protection for their staff.”
One of the problems in building up a good health and safety programme is that “unfortunately there is a big gap between manufacturer data and the real working data”, Paul continues. “The machines are often not tested under the rigorous work conditions that they will be used for. There are too many different variables for any manufacturer to test them all. For example, a variety of chainsaws could be used to cut many different materials, all producing a different level of vibration, so it is
Ian Sumpter - hands on training
difficult to gain an accurate picture of the level of vibration without testing the machines first - the only real way a club can gather reliable data.” Added to this, Paul believes end-users cannot gain a snapshot of all the machines available “as manufacturers aren’t yet combining their data”. When this happens, it will make matters “far easier”, he says.
“Still, clubs should do their own risk assessments, with the best person to manage it being the club manager, as they know the club, the machines and the staff. There is really no need to bring in consultants to undertake generic risk assessments - doing it in house with the right information can prove far more successful,” he stresses. “The only sure way to reduce the chances of vibration damage is staff rotation. Therefore, clubs need a multi- skilled staff base that can perform a manner of different tasks, all with the necessary safety precautions. That means that certain members of staff don’t end up doing the same job for a prolonged period.”
In the past, sometimes one man would do the same job for twenty years, he adds. “This just shouldn’t be happening today.”
Ultimately, training in this sector should never stop, believes Paul. “Whether someone has a qualification from two or twenty years ago, there is always a need to update the knowledge and keep up to date with industry changes.” Another key health and safety issue in the sector is the potential danger posed from noise in the workplace. The concern is such that, unless workers take precautions, many in the industry could face the threat of permanent hearing loss
“It’s important that older workers are up to speed with the correct ways to operate machines and, crucially, don’t become jaded with their work to the point where accidents might occur”
32
Ian Sumpter, Training Manager, Lely UK
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