Originally published by the Australian Institute of Health & Safety
WorkSafe Victoria recently issued a safety alert about controlling risks from the use of 4-in-1 buckets on skid-steer loaders following an incident in which an employee was seriously hurt while loading concrete rubble into a tip truck.
The employee was injured when concrete rubble fell from the open jaws of the loader’s 4-in-1 bucket. The falling rubble went through the front opening of the loader cabin and hit the employee. The employee’s injuries included a broken knee and cuts.
Skid-steer loaders fitted with 4-in-1 buckets are a hazard, according to the alert, which said they create a risk to the operator.
When the jaw of the bucket is open, material can fall from the bottom of the bucket into the operator station. Operators can be killed or seriously injured if hit.
Employers must eliminate any risks to health and safety at work, and the alert said there are a number of ways to control risks to skid-steer loader operators who load rubble:
- Skips: Replacing tip trucks with skips on the ground is one way to eliminate risks from loading into tip trucks. Instead of loading over the high sides of a tip truck, loader operators load over the low sides of the skip. A skip loader truck then collects the skip for transport.
- Operator front protection: Skid-steer loaders have different cabins. Some have open cabins with mesh sides and open fronts. Others have enclosed cabins with glass windows and a front door.
Where practicable, skid-steer loaders with open fronts should be fitted with protective screens, and the alert said options include polycarbonate replacement front doors and mesh or demolition front screens.
The skid-steer’s front door or screen should be closed when operating. Doing this isolates the operator from material that falls from the 4-in-1 bucket. It can also protect the operator from material the 4-in-1 bucket might pull from the tip truck. This can happen when the loader reverses.
The alert also said a standard bucket attachment is an alternative for loading material over the side of a tip truck. The bucket ensures the load cannot fall towards the skid-steer loader operator. If material does fall, the loader’s falling object protective structure (FOPS) provides protection. It reduces the risk of material striking the operator.
Front-of-cabin protective devices can also be fitted to other plant, such as excavators, and if a skid-steer loader does not have front-of-cabin protection, the alert said to use plant that has the required protection.
