Excavator accident

News recently regarding an accident where an overwidth excavator slid off a semi trailer when unloading killing the young bloke driving it. see www1.worksafe.vic.gov.au/vwa/vwa097-002....content/LSID160163-1
I dont want to comment on that particular case. But in general terms what makes one trailer suitable for an oversize load and another one dangerous ?

Pete,

I heard they (Nationwide Towing and Transport) were since fined $450,000 for all five charges over this accident - and were ordered to pay Damien Des Barres' family $60000 compensation!

bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Region...or_death_505110.html

Joe

Looky Looky
Joe Haz returned
Welcome Back Joe

---

Any job - task can B as dangerous as U wanna make it
Not noing the inz n outs of th@ particular FU
inexperience shines thru

We all need to stand back a little n take in the big picture

I have carted bigger n wider Xcav8Rz with little as 150mm of track (600mm wide track pads) on deck with 450mm unsupported under each track
can B dun
with a good operator on machine th@ follows directions
n th@ was side loading/unloading
Side Loading = deck height 600mm 6 m long deck

Walkin Xcav8R over Rsend = height of 900mm


This B a small 20 t Xcav8r sideloading

ButEyeDOSt&2BCorrected
Cya
[ch9787]

Just saw a brief shot of the trailer on the news, looked like a tri axle with ramps over the back.

I knew daimo very well [the young fella who died], and think daimo would have agreed with me when i say , had he stayed in the machine and not jumped out. he would have a few bruises,maybe broken bones,but still be here to tell the tail, so being green may have played a part in this tragedy. even though nationwide had already been warned about floating that size machine on a tilt! being an oh&s licence assessors i give young fellas tickets everyday for earth moving equipment,and i always say there is nothing better than gaining experience under the watchful eye of an competent operator,however i think nowadays,young blokes are thrown in to the firing line all to quickly because of the almighty dollar and the ticking clock....... R.I.P DAIMO

This accident can be sheeted home purely to one thing - lack of adequate training. This accident should never have happened.
It was a case of a young fella not having the knowledge (being made aware) of the hazards associated with loading .. and not being trained, to understand, that jumping from a falling or overturning machine is something you should NEVER do ..

If the worst happens, you hang on tight and ride them to the ground. Yes, there'll be a few thumps and bangs .. but your chances of survival are increased by 1000% as against jumping off .. and then having the machine land on you .. as it inevitably does.

As far as the overhang goes .. 15 centimetres overhang sounds like a reasonable deal to me .. although that depends on the track width, and the size of the machine. 30 cms overhang is a lot on a mini-excavator .. but not a lot on a 150 tonne machine.

Once you start getting a lot of overhang, you are reducing your margin for error.
Loading is where probably 80% of accidents occur. The other 20% occur in transit.

The steel deck situation is one that is not cut and dried. Many steel decks still exist, and you have to cope with them. Over-the-back loading is the highest risk area.

There are five primary things to keep in mind when loading ..

1. MAKE SURE THE DECK IS NEAR DEAD LEVEL. I cannot stress this point enough. Loading with the deck on a slope is just asking for trouble.
If the bloke driving the truck says "near enough!" .. refuse to load, until he repositions the trailer, so the deck is level.
If this means moving to another location .. so be it. Far better to move 200 or 400 metres to a spot where the loading can be undertaken more safely.

2. If the deck is steel, acquire some small car tyres or conveyor belting to lay on the deck. This will reduce slippage by a very large factor.

3. Make sure there's no thick greasy clay .. on the deck, or on the tracks. If the tracks are clogged with greasy clay, spin the tracked machine around a few times to clean the clay out .. or shovel the clay off.
Wet clay is the finest lubricant known, guaranteed to send you for a ride, that will match any show ride .. over the edge of the truck or trailer ..

4. Line up straight, and load straight and slow. If you can't see properly, get a helper to guide you. Most truck drivers will guide you on. Don't carry out extreme swings of track when on the ramps or beavertail.
If the machine is going on crooked, back off and re-align.

5. NEVER jump off, if it all turns pear-shaped, despite your best attempts. Grab hold of what is solid, fold yourself up, and HANG ON, riding the machine to the ground.
Most machines have cabs, and only very rarely does a machine turn right over. Even in a complete turnover, you still stand a better chance of survival than jumping off.

The most frightening loading I have ever done was with an Army Cat D8, over the back of a U.S. military low-loader .. that was shod with 14.00 x 24 tyres.

The Cat D8 was a land-clearing machine, fitted with armour plate on 3 sides of the cab.
The only open vision was forward .. and the side and back vision consisted of one 3" x 5" glass viewing slit, each side and back .. taken from tanks and installed in the armour plate.
The vision through these glass viewing slits was minimal, and you needed to have your face up against them, to see anything worthwhile outside . .

The rear deck (over the wheels) of the military float was about 5' 6'' (about 170cm) off the ground. It comprised sections that were hinged and which could be laid as low as possible on the tyres, and lifted for travel.

When I drove the D8 up the ramps on this low-loader, all I could see was sky ..
No way to get any helping guidance .. and no way to find out if you were straight, until the D8 rocked over the hump . .
It didn't help that the deck and the ground were wet and muddy, as well ..

I had several years of operating experience behind me when I climbed onto this float .. but I can still recall the nasty feeling of just climbing .. and climbing .. and climbing .. and not knowing if it was all going well .. or if I was heading over the side ..

Fortunately, my previous operating experience and skill .. and the fact that the Americans placed the trailer level .. all helped to make the first loading a highly-satisfactory effort.
However, every time I loaded thereafter, it was still a "dodgy" exercise, fraught with risk .. and requiring a lot of skill and nerve ..

I also might add, the accident in narre warren was on uneven ground and on a semi-tilt, i think you will find in Victoria most float drivers wont allow operators to load there own gear anymore! work-safe,oh&s and the N.T.I.S have developed a loading competency card [licence], and i think you will find most of the blokes have these now!, I also issue nationally recognised competency cards for this,and many other tickets in the earth-moving game ,[well said onetrack,experience and skill plays the most part] but in fairness to the chap from beamish, i don't think the overhang was the main issue as was the inexperience and unlevel ground.

2 spammers in 2 hours good going.