Plant and Machinery

Under the Construction Regulations

A contractor responsible for a construction site shall ensure for that site that, if used for the purposes of construction work and in circumstances where the operator's visibility is restricted, have auxiliary devices as listed in Schedule 6 installed to improve visibility, unless a risk assessment shows that the auxiliary devices are not required.

This requirement comes into force ;

For all vehicles that are first used after the coming into operation of these Regulations and are listed in Schedule 6 from 6 months after the coming into operation of these Regulations. That is after the 6th May 2007 and

All vehicles that are in use immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations and are listed in Schedule 6, from 18 months after the coming into operation of these Regulations. That is the 6th May 2008.

Contractors should not wait for these dates to pass.  You need to do install your auxiliary devices now. 

Transport Management on Construction Sites

Under the construction regulations;

On all construction sites on which transport vehicles, earth-moving or materials-handling machinery or locomotives are used, the project supervisor for the construction stage shall ensure that –

(a) safe and suitable access ways are provided for them

(b) traffic and pedestrian routes are so organised and controlled

including, where appropriate, by the provision of a traffic and pedestrian management plan, as to secure their safe operation.

Among the issues to be taken into account are:

  • Size of site
  • Location of site
  • Number of vehicles on site
  • Access and egress from site
  • Pedestrian routes on site
  • Number of workers on site
  • Work activities i.e. proximity of excavations to vehicle access routes
  • Other site specific issues

 

Inspection and Certification Lifting Equipment

An initiative by the Construction Safety Partnership has developed an online tool to assist in managing this aspect of lifting equipment.

This initiative is designed to assist contractors to comply with the legal requirements to ensure that lifting equipment is regularly inspected and certified as being safe.

  • Store information on your plant equipment and certificates
  • Be automatically notified when inspections are required
  • Store actual certificates and access at any time
  • View all details and certificates from your smart-phone

This is a free service developed by the CSP for the Irish construction service.

Click on the link to visit the Certtracker website

 

Further Information

Site Dumper / 360 Excavator Pre-start Checks Sheet