Use of dogs and chains

Big Caam

I agree with every thing you say.

However - there are another couple of WH&S requirments in palce that seem a bit questionably. Particually when being overseen/checked by over officious WH&S inspectors/Officers.

One is about having to chock every vehicle (including light vehicles) when you are parked on a mine site.

One example I heard recently was of a WH&S Officer from a mine who was getting petrol for his ute at a normal off site Servo. He chocked all wheels before proceeding to fill up.

On leaving the Servo he observed a concrete pump working on a private building site next door - and thought the boom was too close to electrical wires.

So he raced to the site - parked, jumped out and proceeded to rev the closest guy he came too. When told it was none of his business he commenced to read them the riot act. A short way into his speech, one guy again reminded him this site was none of his business - but what was his business was his UN CHOCKED vehicle that he had abondened (in his haste) and left parked in a dangerious position on the public road way. He went on to enquire as to how come the vehicle need chocking on the flat surface of the Servo driveway - but didnt need the same attention when parked on a slooping surface as it was now. End of speech.

Another new one is the requirement to fit those yellow tag thingos to all wheel nuts - so as on inspection one can see if a nut has loosened. I personally saw 4 light vehicles with these fitted and NONE of these pointer things were facing in any meaningful direction - BECAUSE the ones used were far to long for the wheel size/nut spacing. Had someone had the brains to nick a piece off the end they would have been able to be used as designed. PROBLEM - no one is allowed to mess with such important safety related devices. Now those 4 vehicles were all working on the same site and obviously not being observed by an inspector. OH and if one gets a flat tyre - they cannot change it - but must wait for a fully accredited tyre changer to do the job - so as those tags can be re-fitted as designed.

Same Mine. They were running very low on fuel stocks (just in time supply chain system) and the incoming tanker was broken and running late.

So they contacted a local supplier who they had previously over looked/discounted as a prefered suppplier because he wouldnt play some of their stupid games and who wasnt prepared to wait 90 days for payment.

So they didnt get a very good reception - but being a wheeler and dealer from way back - he agreed to assist them. Mainly - yes he could be there within an hour, but wanted a cheque on arrival at the gate. They agreed.

He arrived at the gate, and got the cheque. But an elert Gatekeeper requested to see the drivers Induction Certificate etc. All of which he didnt have. NO Entry approved.

The fuel supplier advised the Gate Keeper that maybe he should contact the section who was requesting this urgent fuel drop and ask it it was OK for him to refuse entry to the tanker.

Approval was eventually granted - and it was arranged for the tanker to enter the site under an escort.

Fuel supplier agreed to that - but then requested a further cheque to cover his (by now) 3 hours waiting time plus a figure for lost sales due to the hold up.

He got his money and they got their fuel.

Now dont get me wrong - I fully believe in safe workplaces etc. However I object to people making an industry out of it by coming up with totally unreasonable and poorly thought out schemes designed for no other purpose than to line their pockets.

Oldfulla

problem is oldfulla is that we are being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the brand new civilised world...and all of our hard gained ingenuity and ''can do'' has got to be put aside as we venture into the new world of mediocrity.

...makes you get all excited,..doesn't it??

cheers

There's no doubt that officiousness and over-regulation is a big problem in the OH&S area .. with too many people unable to recognise the line between work involving unrecognised danger .. and the stupidity of excessive regulations, controls and petty behaviour.

A mate delivers mattresses and foam products to businesses around Perth, from a bedding manufacturer and foam supplier.
He runs a 5 tonner with a huge pan body, because everything he handles is not excessively heavy, just bulky.
Bob is a toiler, a real go-getter. He's gone by 4:45AM every morning, works like a trojan, covers 200,000km a year in his truck, and operates by himself.
He can wheel into a factory unit, have 6 mattresses and 4 beds unloaded by himself without assistance (by hand), and be gone inside 6 or 8 minutes.

Then came the day a few months back when he got a delivery to a new client. A client with OH&S paranoia. He wasn't allowed to get into the back of the truck, until a set of portable steps (with handrails) had been sourced and brought to the rear of the truck.
Once these were in place, a rope rail had to be installed across the open rear of the van body (for fear of someone falling out of it). The truck floor must be all of 900mm or a metre high, seeing as it's on 16" wheels.
He wasn't allowed to handle the mattresses, beds or foam sheets by himself. He had to have assistance from other workers.

All this took over 45 minutes before he managed to get the few items unloaded and get out of the place. You ought to hear him about the performance.

He's told his managers (he's a subbie) that there is no way he is delivering a single item to this place ever again. He's already under enough pressure, with traffic, tight driveways, drongoes in the receiving bays, and FU's in paperwork. He says he doesn't need the idiotic application of over-the-top OH&S rules, enforced by dropkicks with nothing more to do than make up more rules and introduce more time-wasting stupidity with petty regulations. Somewhere along the line, there's a nice balance.

I think there's been a big increase in this kind of OH&S stupidity in tractor, vehicle and machinery show displays, too .. however, no doubt, a lot of this behaviour is driven by insurance companies trying to reduce their payouts.

And another aspect of the way the world is headed ....

www.theage.com.au/national/psychiatry-bi...-20111203-1ocmm.html

All to increase the sales of the pharmaceutical companies.

Surprised they haven't recognised an interest in old trucks as a condition requiring medication. Oh, they did ... prescription fizz!

Had a large company try all that sort of BS about a year ago for a 1 hour job.

In the end they agreed to pay me a very good rate to go thru all the oh&s Cr%p,

What i love is being told that my tractor is not safe by someone who has never been near one before.
And some off them think that there Sh&t doesnt stink.

Trevor

Several yards in Melbourne will not load you if you use dogs, must be ratchet type or similar
Gary

Dirt

And I bet if you asked them why - they wouldnt/couldnt answer and would just use the old "It our WH&S policy".

Oldfulla

Haven't used a ratchet dog, in my experience most problems was with people trying to over tighten the chains. Ie you want to get it tight but not "bar tight".

Well after 30 years of low loader work spread 4x8 Brentwood floats plus hi tensile 3 axel tri axel stuff form the same maker & not a screw type dog about & we only used hi tensile 1/2" chains forged dogs & a good quality double swivil enden dogs I can say its not the dogs that is a danger its the opperator & ignorance that will get you injured .
most of our rigs had about 10 dogs as your tools of trade mine hang in a rack so I could see if any were missing BUT I LUBRICATED the swivil ends sa soon as they got sticky so they always would lay where you could get the alloy scafold pipe 1200mm long that was your work mate on & off the handel .
I had a squeese bottel of engine oil in the chain tray that had 6x 3 Mt double cliped normal work chains = 2 single clip 3 Mt ones to poke through holes on special job or to extend a chain if needed
then 4x 6 Mt double enders for the awkard stuff . You guarded the gear with your life the gear had a place to live & it was always put back there where it was stored at at ground working height not have to climb up to get & store heavy gear made the work place safe for me .
I always looped chains ends so you can shorted a chain by 1/2 a link when it cane time to dog down .
I always restrained back as I had more breaking force than power to slide a load backwards & always had a stock of idiots that would just love to whip around you & get in front & take up your safty breaking space when you wer groosing up to 110 tonnes on a quad spread that twist & give so you always dog along the float never across the 2 halves .
I had an expert trainer show a bloke that was paying him good money to teach him the book way of load restraint took for ever to do the job & it all came loose in the first 100Mtrs the trailer moved .
He burred up when I stopped to show the young bloke where he went wrong & the load was rubber tyred gear a back hoe our company dry hired to this driving school run by would be experts .
Just use your head look after your gear & your dogs & chains will serve you well .
RULE #1 never tow with your restraint chains
TC

Thank you for your information TC.
30 years doin the hard yards using the gear the way it should be used..
Experience that can't be bought!
Good work Ol Mate!

chocs