Page 24 - Hire and Rental News - August 2013

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NEWS IN BRIEF

ACCESS IN ACTION

| ACCESS

ACTION | AUGUST 2013

Dromad Hire, an award-

winning equipment rental

company based out of

Dundalk, Ireland, has begun

using Skyjack scissor lifts in its

growing fleet.

Dromad expects the

machines to be used for retail

construction and for work at

computer software companies.

Seamus Byrne, Managing

Director for Dromad Hire, said

the new machines are already

meeting the company’s high

standards.

The Skyjack lifts ordered by

Dromad Hire are all battery-

powered machines, two of

which are the SJIII 3219 and

SJIII 3226 models. The SJIII 3219

is one of Skyjack’s Compact

Series models that features a

0.9

m (2.9ft) extension deck,

Gary Power, equipment standards manager of Dromad

Hire, stands in front of the new Skyjack scissors

Award-winner switches to Skyjack

working

heights of

up to 7.8m

(25.5

ft) and

gradeability

up to 30%. It

also features

steel swing-out

component

trays,

providing

unrestricted

access for easy

maintenance

and service.

The SJIII

3226

is one

of Skyjack’s

Narrow Conventional Series

DC Electric Scissor Lifts, the

lightest machines in their class.

The machine boasts an industry

leading 408kg (900lb) capacity.

It offers working heights

of up to 9.9m (32.4ft) and

30%

gradeability, while also

providing a 0.9m (2.9ft) roll out

extension deck.

Visit:

www.skyjack.com

EWPA WEBPAGE

The EWPA now has a link to Vertikal

on its home page and no passwords

required. The EWPA recognises this is

a globally respected webpage for EWP

information. It has massive hits every

day and is well worth checking weekly.

The EWPA also has a link to IPAF under

the Useful Links section. There is an

increasing level of interest in looking

at mutual recognition of the IPAF and

EWPA training programs. Both schemes

meet or exceed the ISO standard for

EWP training so this may well be an

option for the future.

TELESCOPIC HANDLERS

The issue of Grey imports continues

to be of concern as is the confusion

surrounding the lack of harmonisation

between states when it comes to the

licences required to operate these

pieces of high risk plant.

The Gold Card continues to increase in

popularity as a basic operator duty of

care program and it will be a full Unit

of Competency later this year. However,

the key areas of concern relate to

the lack of site knowledge when it

comes to operating these units and

when suspended loads are involved

on the TSH’s 3 tonne and under. We all

need to keep the end users aware of

the dangers of using this equipment

without basic training of the operator

OPERATING EWPS ON

SOFT GROUND

Followers of vertikal.net will have

noticed a significant number of photos

featuring boom lift accidents involving

soft ground. The EWPA said it can’t

emphasise enough the importance of

checking the ground you are going

to be working on or driving over

BEFORE you operate the EWP. If you

can’t get a clear answer from the

site manager then do not operate

the boom lift on uncertain ground.

This can be compounded by the fact

the loading on the boom lift wheels

or outriggers might initially look

OK. The load may rapidly increase as

you telescope the boom beyond the

wheels or outriggers and the situation

can dramatically change. To help all

operators recognise the real dangers of

soft ground the EWPA has put together

a PowerPoint presentation online. These

are pictures, courtesy of vertikal.net,

showing numerous examples of EWP

incidents involving soft ground.

The new EWP Operator

Licence was officially launched

by the Elevating Work Platform

Association (EWPA) on 1 July,

2013

as a nationally recognised

Unit of Competence (UoC).

The new EWP Operator

Licence aligns itself with the

Resources and Infrastructure

training package, UoC titled:

RIIHAN301B-Operate Elevating

Work Platforms and the

training program provides the

flexibility required to meet the

needs of different industries

encompassed by the EWPA.

The EWP Operator Licence

will now feature a photograph

of the operator, similar to a

Drivers’ Licence.

According to James

Oxenham, National Operations

Director for the Elevating Work

Platform Association, the new

licence offers better quality

control and provides a measure

to ensure all accreditation is

proven (ie: the holder of the

card is the trained operator).

“

The EWP Operator Licence

now offers a pathway for

EWP Operator Licence –

the new Yellow Card

participants who have

successfully completed training

to gain a nationally recognised

unit of competence. It meets

and exceeds the UoC

requirement, meeting industry

and national Standards as well

as training standards,” he said.

“

In-built to the new

training and licencing

system is the ability to check

the accreditation of the

licence holder on the EWPA

webpage.”

The EWPA had been

aware for some time some

sectors, such as the mining

and resources sector, had

not recognised the EWPA

Yellow Card as appropriate

training, even though it met

Operational Health and Safety

and Workplace Health and

Safety requirements relating to

employer responsibilities.

This was because the

former Yellow Card training

program could not be linked to

nationally recognised training.

“

Recreating our Yellow Card

program to fit into national

training programs means, as

an industry, we gain training

credibility, while our trained

members will now have the

option to gain a Statement

of Attainment which builds

on their life-long learning

achievements,” James said.

“

Essentially we have added