Pit & Quarry, January 2018

SAFETY to prevent a fall or potentially reduce the severity of the slip or trip Our findings show that recovery occurred only 25 percent of the time during an STF Ensuring that adequate handholds are provided for the length of the ladder into the cab may increase the potential for recovering from a slip or trip and thereby prevent falls Handholds should be designed in 1 to 15 in diameters and with at least 3 in of clearance Ideally horizontal handholds should be provided as research has shown them to be more effective at preventing falls than vertical handholds 5 Construct ingress egress platforms with stairs that allow operators to access the cab of the equipment without ascending or descending ladders For many front end loaders there may be an option to eliminate the previously identified hazards associated with ingress or egress on ladders by providing an elevated platform equipment with stairs This will provide more stable and safer access into and out of the cab because ladders pose a greater risk for severe injury than stairs 6 Regularly and thoroughly inspect and maintain Handholds should be designed in 1 to 15 in diameters and with at least 3 in of clearance ingress egress systems on mobile equipment Inspecting and maintaining ingress egress systems on mobile equipment allows you to Identify and prevent potential failures Fix broken or damaged components of the ingress egress system Ensure all rungs are present and securely attached to the ladder system to prevent unexpected movement Eliminate debris and contaminants from the ingress egress system We found that equipment failure such as a rung breaking and unexpected movement such as excessive movement of cab doors or ladder rungs with flexible rails were the leading identified contributing factors to STFs Regular and thorough inspection maintenance and repair can prevent failure eliminate excessive movement of rungs and ensure all parts of the ingress egress system are in good working condition LADDER SAFETY Ladder safety extends beyond just mobile equipment ingress egress and similar approaches can be used to improve safety when using many types of ladders at mine sites The Steps to Ladder Safety poster page 70 outlines good practices when ascending and descending ladders It can be downloaded from https go usa gov xN42V printed and posted where ladders are used to remind mine workers of the simple steps they can take to ensure their safety when using ladders In addition NIOSH released a Ladder Safety App that is a useful tool for extension and step ladder safety It can be downloaded from https go usa gov xRQH8 P Q Jonisha P Pollard and Mahiyar F Nasarwanji are with the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of NIOSH Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH For more information on NIOSHs research to prevent slips trips and falls in mining visit https go usa gov x96XT 72 PIT QUARRY January 2018 pitandquarry com