Received earlier today a social media post of a boom lift climbing out of a hole created when the ground gave way under its rear wheels. We are not sure when and where this occurred, but the video can be found below.
UPDATE
Dingli, which manufactures this machine has contacted us to say that this ‘incident’ was in fact a live test carried out by one of its rental customers in order to simulate such incidents and test the 'Unified Axle' capability and performance. It added that it was able to verify that the 'test' was “conducted exclusively within an enclosed test area at the customer's yard, and that all personnel involved with the trial had followed certified safety protocols during the process, including the wearing of harnesses with short lanyards”. The machine was also thoroughly inspected afterwards to see how it had fared.
The machine’s performance climbing out of the hole is very impressive indeed – no question whatsoever of that. It also highlights a couple of points
1.The need to always check ground conditions before running your machine over it, although you cannot always be certain of what lies below otherwise seemingly solid ground.
2.The operator was probably wearing a harness and short lanyard before the machine dropped into the whole or prior to tackling this recovery manoeuvre, given that a colleague watching is equipped with one. It is very easy to be thrown out of the platform on such a machine at this height, often leading to a fatality.
3.Is it good to share and boast of the machine’s prowess?
In summary it probably is good to share, it would have been better if we could have seen the operator and that he was well strapped in as he conducted this manoeuvre. Even a line in the text that said something like – “Thank goodness the operator was wearing a harness and lanyard when it happened.”
The video certainly highlights what can happen when the ground is not sound enough to support a machine of this weight, and this is a critically important message to communicate and keep reminding people of. It also fits with the IPAF campaign ‘Share your Story’.
Some will say, with good reason that the machine should be subjected to a thorough inspection before going back into use, after all the axles or kingpins could have been damaged or their structure compromise, when it dropped into the hole.
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