NFDC issues telehandler warning

Extract From HSE Newsletter Issue 24 (April-May 2010)

Workers are being warned not to operate telehandlers if the right-hand side window is missing or broken, following a fatal incident.

A 36-year old man was apparently leaning through the broken window aperture when he was crushed by the descending boom. It is the third such fatal accident in the last seven years.

The side window on telehandlers (or variable reach trucks) is designed to prevent operator access to the boom. If the glass screen is broken or missing, operatives may be tempted to lean out of the window aperture, for instance to adjust a mirror, and may inadvertently lower the boom onto themselves without being able to stop it.

Howard Button

13th May 2010

ID: 1306