QUARRYMEN ON BOARD FOR SAFETY TRAINING

What do cranes at quarries have in common with helicopters at sea? Quite a lot when it comes to safety, as demonstrated by a new course devised by South Tyneside College.

(PRWEB) October 23 2003--The Marine Safety Training Centre (MSTC) at South Tyneside College was approached by Tarmac Ltd, who needed to provide safety training for their crane operators, working beside a water-filled quarry near Carlisle. Their role is to excavate stone, gravel and other matter from the quarry bed using a crane and dragline.

Tarmac wanted to ensure that operators could evacuate their crane safely should it become unstable and topple into the water. The initial brief for the MSTC was purely to assess the ease of evacuation.

It recommended the installation of push-out windows in the roof and on one side of the cab (the other side window remaining barred to protect against the crane wire should it break and flail around) and training in the use of a special underwater breathing device.

Subsequently, the MSTC devised a complete course for the quarrys five crane operators, including training in first aid (for conditions such as hypothermia and drowning) and in the use of new Emergency Breather System equipment.

Perhaps the main benefit, however, came from a full simulation of evacuation, which took place in the Centres pool. Putting what they had learnt into practice, the trainees were seated in a mock-up of a helicopter cabin - called a Helicopter Underwater Escape Trainer (HUET) - which was then immersed in the water and capsized.

The cockpit of the HUET and the crane cabin are very similar in some respects," said Ian Cullen, Director of the MSTC. They both have a similar amount of space inside, similar sized window apertures and much the same basic layout, consisting of a narrow alleyway leading to the main door. For this reason the simulation is just as real-life to dragline operators as to our helicopter escape trainees."

Previously, the MSTC has developed a similar training package for the Nissan Ferry Terminal at Jarrow to ensure the safety of staff as they drove cars up the ramp onto the ferry. In this instance, the clients concern was the risk of a car skidding off the approach road and ditching into the River Tyne.

Regardless of the nature of your business, if it brings your staff into close proximity with water, then risk assessment is essential and safety training must be considered as a vital part of the operation," said Ian.

ENDS