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kerry davies

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In another place, as they say in the House of Commons, there is a mention of a serious injury due to possible scaffolding inadequacies at a large London outdoor concert this summer. (No names, no pack drill.)

 

Following up which a certain star of the TDS galaxy wrote; " ..... 3 incidents involving tele-handlers at UK festivals in recent weeks, two of which over-turned whilst they were being used with the booms out and the outriggers not deployed (one death and festival cancellation in one case, two serious injuries in the other). The third incident led to damage only and as the damage was to our kit, I can confirm that machine was being driven by a local crew person, supplied as a tele driver to production, who after two incidents in quick succession admitted "no-one had shown him how to drive it". "

 

One death is too many and as we approach wind-down time we are most at risk. Take care, constant vigilance and my sort of pedantry does actually save lives. Better yet it avoids the serious injuries that can stay with people, sometimes for decades.

 

You can also bet your sweet bippy that some local crew insurance company assessor is reading that "nobody showed me how to drive it" statement and weeping tears of blood, if I know the owner of the kit involved.

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There's a really fundamental problem with the current "license" / certification system which has become really apparent this season. Someone (usually a minimum wage crew drone) goes on a course which is really designed for building sites (which are generally level terrain, none of the same time/operational pressures and a host of other differences to typical event sites) being tested/trained how to move fairly "square" loads over fairly short distances and at the end of it all they are given a certificate which most event/festival producers seem to consider as acceptable proof this person is capable of driving 9 / 12m telehandlers over very uneven terrain carrying all sorts of wonky/oversized loads often considerable distances. I've spent a significant chunk of this summer with other bosses / managers watching "professional" drivers drop things, crash in to things, scratch things and just generally not in any way be competent (and for the record, I have had 2 people completely removed from all driving duties on sites because I've been so concerned about their competence) whilst at the same time being told that (for example) the 20yr old "son of a farmer" who's worked on our team year round for 4 years and who has been driving telehandlers / tractors and other vehicles on uneven terrain in all weather for 10 years cannot possibly even sit in the cab of a telehandler because he's not safe because he doesn't have the specific piece of magic paper that somehow makes someone a "driver"

 

 

 

//gets off soapbox//

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Star Stages have (or at least had) a policy that to drive telehandlers on their sites, you had to have not only your normal telehandler ticket (RTITB or whatever the other one is, CPCS not necessary); but also pass their own internal telehandler qualification for driving them on event sites, because the nature of the way they are used on event sites is different and some of the tasks that Star would expect you to carry out on their jobs would not be present in your normal ticket test.

 

I saw an excellent system in place at a European dance festival. The festival introduced it's own plant tickets, which were issued by the site crew's plant team. To get your plant license, all you had to do was take along your normal plant ticket. They photocopied it and issued you with a festival one as well. Then to sign out keys etc you had to present your festival one. But also if the site crew, on their travels, saw you misusing plant, they were at will to punch a hole in it for minor tickings off, or confiscate it - and the machine's keys - for a major breach. A number of forklift operators had theirs revoked over the weeks we were there. It is a bit formalised, but it meant dangerous operators were banned from operating; and proficient users, who took occasional risks to make up time, were brought to earth with a recorded warning that could see them banned if they did it again.

 

 

Sadly there is a culture in the events industry that he who can do it fastest, is the best; and you see blatant risks taken all to commonly to save time. Yet as is proven every time an accident occurs... a fatal or near fatal plant accident on an event site will delay you by a lot more time than whatever you saved with your corner cutting. But people continue to do it because when it works, it makes them look good. I never stop meeting people who think that they key to being a good technician is to put absolutely everything second place to doing it quickly. A while back there was an instance where somebody was injured because they manually lifted a ground support tower with aid from a forklift... DESPITE having the proper tower lifting apparatus in stock! Why is it not just them, but common practice to do that? It's quicker. Even with a lardy great truss tower with a big metal headblock towering above you, held up by nothing but arms and legs... people would still rather put the crew at risk, than spend an extra 5 minutes rigging up the lifting frame. I made myself quite unpopular on a job demanding it be used, I was genuinely speechless that project managers wanted to put their guys under a heavy metal structure supported on a hinge; as a preference to using mechanical lifting.

 

The entire culture needs to change... there is not a focus needed on telehandlers or plant, but an entire cultural review on companies and individuals trying to fulfil roles they cannot fulfil - because the competitive and desirable nature of the events industry means they don't want to turn the work away; a review on how events and site managers can judge the competence of suppliers to ensure they are getting individuals and companies that are properly suited to the work they are undertaking; and a review on how we can banish the attitude that doing something quickly trumps everything else.

 

 

 

 

PS Tom we often disagree on things but in this instance I 100% agree with your above statement!

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All a forklift ticket gets you, as far as I am concerned, is the chance to show your competence, or otherwise.

 

Relying solely on possession of a ticket is a management failure. The duty of ascertaining competence cannot be left to documentary evidence alone. Neither does competence depend on that evidence alone, as Tom's farm boy shows.

 

Employees must be given comprehensible information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety and that of others.
That applies to employers duty of care under HSWA, MHSW and every other H&S regulatory order including PUWER.
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All a forklift ticket gets you, as far as I am concerned, is the chance to show your competence, or otherwise.

 

Relying solely on possession of a ticket is a management failure. The duty of ascertaining competence cannot be left to documentary evidence alone. Neither does competence depend on that evidence alone, as Tom's farm boy shows.

 

Two thoughts:

 

1) In my eyes the importance of a forklift ticket is that it should show, in theory, that you have received all the necessary training in order to operate a forklift truck safely and competently. It doesn't show that you can actually do so. Certainly on my forklift, telehandler and IPAF courses there have been people I wouldn't trust crossing a road let alone driving the things but they managed to get their tickets anyway and then they're somebody else's problem. This is why, for instance, the NRC is better. That is not a one day ticket, it's a more thorough assessment, with culminates (if you pass) in a senior rigger putting his name to the paper to back up that you are competent in performing your work. And failing can, and frequently does, happen. Sadly, there are is no shortage of events where the safety element is run by people who have no idea how to do any of the jobs that are involved on the event, and so a 'ticket' is the magic piece of paper they need to satisfy their craving for all things certified. There is less of an issue where events appoint plant managers.

 

2) Tom's "farm boy" does have a moral and sometimes I do meet people who are extremely good at something who are prevented from doing it by clipboard-wielding hassle-###### because they don't have a ticket. And that DOES suck. However, there are also a number of people who are prevented from doing something dangerous because they don't have a ticket. What would YOU rather have on your site Kerry? Somebody who's been driving a telehandler badly for 20 years or somebody who's been driving one properly for 6 months? I ski twice a week and they operate an honesty system for the slope - beginners should have classes but competent people can jump on the chairlift and ski til they're bored. And yet you still see plenty of people who are nowhere near safe, hurtling down the main slope because of their cowboy attitude of "what's so hard about strapping some planks to your feet and going down a hill"... people WILL do the same for plant machinery if given the chance.

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I think there is an inherent flaw in the mandatory nature of the licenses (which isn't to say that it isn't the best option.) At the time all these licenses arrived, lots of companies got into training, and charge handsomely for the pleasure. But the downside is that, if you are charging a company several hundred pounds to train their staff, I would argue that it is very difficult for the result at the end of the day for any of them to have failed. I have certainly seen people fail their written test at the end of the course, and they were simply coached on passing it - at whatever level was required to just short of telling them which option to circle - till they did. But it was done specifically in relation to passing the test, not making sure they were competent.
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I agree Gibbo but tickets are not what the law says you must have. The law says competence which is training then skills gained through practice. Tickets only cover the first third of the equation.

 

That is why the answer to TCs queries is that I couldn't give a damn what tickets were held or how long someone has been ticketed. My neck was on the line so I did check tickets, I did ask about experience, past and current, but I also watched them fairly closely and sent them off to practice in a safe space if I thought they were inexperienced or just rusty, which we all suffer from sometimes.

 

I was never about banning things or people, that may solve today's problem but does nothing about tomorrow's. It is extremely rare to come across a nutter who needs to be stopped. Most people actually want to be better and more efficient at their work. I would rather see someone spend an hour on familiarisation than two hours visiting a hospital or ten replacing kit they have busted.

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Sadly there is a culture in the events industry that he who can do it fastest, is the best; and you see blatant risks taken all to commonly to save time. Yet as is proven every time an accident occurs... a fatal or near fatal plant accident on an event site will delay you by a lot more time than whatever you saved with your corner cutting. But people continue to do it because when it works, it makes them look good. I never stop meeting people who think that they key to being a good technician is to put absolutely everything second place to doing it quickly.

 

You're right of course - but there is another slant on this in an interesting opinion piece on the latest Stand Out mag. The writer was making the point that in a lot of cases events crew have to rush because further up the line someone - usually pretty vital in the planning process - had simply failed to meet some deadline or other. He blames the culture of the 'show must go on', which is connected to your point, for this; as it enables others - often major stakeholders he points out - to be dilatory without disaster. At least until a tired bloke working against the clock makes an error...

 

Incidentally in the last two issues there have been really good features on emergency management and decision making, last time during the thunderstorm at Glastonbury, this time during gales in Cornwall.

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