11.02.2011

New best practice guide to Telehandler use

The UK Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group has unveiled its new best practice document, ‘Safe Use of Telehandlers in Construction’, intended to help reduce the risks of accident and injury.

The new guide highlights the correct way to carry out some particular procedures and, through their adoption as best practice, effectively outlaws some current practices such as the use of non-integrated work platforms on telehandlers in construction.

Other points that come out include: The use of third party attachments – while the telehandler might be CE marked and the attachment CE marked attachments made by third party producers need to be CE marked for use with specific machines.

It also specifies the only way to lift suspended loads with telehandlers – and that does not include via a couple of web slings wrapped around the forks.

The new document, is the result of close co-operation between the British Industrial Truck Association, the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) manufacturers - Merlo, JLG and JCB and the Health & Safety Executive. It is freely available for download from the CPA website www.cpa.uk.net/p/Telehandlers

In the foreword to the Best Practice Guidance, Phillip White, chief inspector of construction at the HSE, said: “This guidance has been prepared by a Working Group representing all parts of the industry, including the Health and Safety Executive to provide clarity on the safe use of telehandlers; including planning, role of personnel, training and familiarisation of personnel, safe use, maintenance, inspection and thorough examination. The guidance is straightforward, comprehensive and easy to adopt.”

The online copy of this document can be downloaded and printed free of charge by anyone in order to encourage its use by as many people as possible. Please feel free to forward this report to as many people who might use telehandlers as possible.