Health & Safety
Farmers should exercise caution when switching from conventional wheels and tyres to row-crop equipment this spring, advises Mitas Tyres. As ISO 9000 and Health & Safety regulations now place a heavy responsibility on tyre suppliers and equipment operators, Mitas cautions that fitting incorrect replacements could have severe consequences, including equipment failure or breaches of legal obligations.
Load handling equipment manufacturer Penny Hydraulics believes companies can do more to prevent injuries resulting from manual handling, following the publication of the latest official statistics by the Health & Safety Executive earlier this month. The figures for the year ending April 2011 showed that more than 36,000 workers suffered a reportable injury while manual handling. Almost 28 per cent of these injuries were directly linked to lifting or putting down items while a further 19 per cent could be linked to unspecified handling, lifting or carrying.
The Warren County tyre plant operated by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has received the highest health and safety award given out by health authorities in its home state; on July 27 the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development’s Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) unit honoured the plant with its Volunteer STAR (Safety Through Accountability and Recognition) award.
Following the HSE announcement, Goodyear Dunlop issued its own response to the case. According to the statement, Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited is fully committed to “conducting operations in an incident-free workplace to safeguard the health and welfare of colleagues, contractors, neighbours and visitors across the country.”
The company accepted the decision of the court and pointed out that it has already put “recommendations and learnings” in place following the HSE inquiry into the incident: “As part of our Global ‘No One Gets Hurt’ policy, we are driving behaviours through all areas of our business to ensure that our excellent safety record is not compromised again. We have learnt from this incident.” stated Martin Smith, Human Resources Director, UK and Ireland.
Goodyear Dunlop representatives were in court on 1 November after a teenage employee fractured his skull whilst maintaining machinery at the firm’s Wolverhampton compounding and retread manufacturing factility. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that it prosecuted Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd after one of its maintenance team, Karl Illidge, struck his head at the firm's Stafford Road, Bushbury, Wolverhampton site. In July Goodyear Dunlop announced that it been awarded Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001 certification, following an external audited by BSI.
When the Ministry of Justice releases data on driving convictions for 2009 on October 21 we will finally get to see whether or not a shameful trend has been reversed. The most recently available information shows a total of 4,317 drivers were successfully prosecuted by courts in England and Wales for driving on defective tyres during 2008, an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year. This information was released by the Ministry of Justice in response to a parliamentary question by Stoke-on-Trent MP, Tristram Hunt and shows the figure to be at a seven-year high, up from a low of 3,595 convictions in 2006.
Cooper Tire’s Tupelo factory in the US state of Mississippi has achieved a million man-hours without recording a single lost time injury. The tyre maker states this milestone “demonstrates the company's commitment to the highest standards of safety performance and its desire to create a safer working environment.”
Northallerton based coach operator Procters Coaches has put the first three of its vehicle technicians through Bridgestone’s popular and successful Roadside Technician course. In addition to gaining the Roadside Technician ID card, Keith Thompson also gained 14 hours towards his driver CPC training as the course is accredited through the Institute of Vehicle Recovery.
Goodyear Dunlop has been awarded Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001 certification, following an external audited by BSI. OHSAS 18001 was created from a number of the world’s leading national standards bodies, certification bodies, and specialist consultancies to establish an occupational health and safety management system. It is designed to ensure the company is legally compliant with its major focus being on continual improvement, as well as eliminating or minimising risk to employees, contractors and visitors. The certificate was granted across both Goodyear Dunlop manufacturing sites in the Midlands based in Bushbury, Wolverhampton and in Birmingham near Fort Dunlop.
TyreSafe has reported on the risks associated with buying part worn tyres following revelations from Birmingham City Council that its trading standards officers examined a selection of part worn tyres being sold in the city and found that nine out of ten failed to meet the minimum legal standards. Among the failures uncovered were tyres with embedded nails, illegal tread depth, exposed cords, inadequate markings – and one tyre that was 17 years old. The investigation comes just weeks after TyreSafe found that more than ten per cent of drivers are more likely to buy part worn tyres compared with a year ago.
Norbar has published recent test results carried out by the HSE (Health & Safety Executive). The toolmaker reports that they demonstrate that vibration exposure for operators using pneumatic torque multipliers to tighten 100 commercial vehicle wheel nuts was 10 times lower with its products than when traditional impact wrenches are used. The Norbar Pneutorque PTM-72-1350B and one other multiplier were subjected to lab and field tests by the HSE and both tools confirmed manufacturer claims of low vibration emissions.
Low vibration levels help avoid occupational risks such as VWF (vibration white finger) also known as HAVS (hand arm vibration syndrome). In addition, the Control of Vibrations at Work Regulations impose a Daily Exposure Action Value (EAV) of 2.5 m/s2, above which employers must introduce controls to eliminate or reduce exposure and provide health surveillance to operators regularly exposed to vibration that exceeds this level. According to the company, the Norbar Pneutorque pneumatic torque multiplier does not exceed 2.5 m/s2. This means there is no restriction in its use during the working day.
In February the Young Driver programme, which Pirelli is a major sponsor of, received a measure of negative press after the publishing of comments by a Police Federation inspector and a RoSPA representative. Ken Clinton, head of road safety for the RoSPA, went as far as commenting that the scheme “will probably mean youngsters will take fewer lessons when they come to learn to drive, and if they take fewer lessons they will get less experience.” In defence of the scheme, Pirelli has responded that a flood of evidence supports the initiative and the positive impact it will have on reducing the number of road accidents across Britain.
Tyre wholesale operation Kings Road Tyres has once again booked a significant sized stand at the world’s leading tyre exhibition. The company reports that it has always recognised the benefit of trade exhibitions and events and has attended Essen on a regular basis, group MD Peter Gaster explained why:
“We place great importance in building personal relationships with our customers and the best way of doing that is by meeting them in person and understanding their needs. It’s never been easier to communicate efficiently with advances in business technology, but there is still no substitute for face-to-face contact. That’s why our sales staff from around the UK and Ireland will be involved throughout the exhibition, giving them and our customers a chance to meet.”
The European Road Safety Charter was established by the European Commission in 2004 with the aim of halving the number of road deaths within the EU. The following year Bridgestone Europe signed an agreement to support the charter, and has now opted to extend its support for a further three years. Bridgestone says its new charter agreement will be backed by a proactive programme of tyre safety checks to educate motorists on the importance of correct and regular tyre maintenance.
TyreSafe has warned motorists that replacing their vehicle’s run-flat tyres with standard tyres could pose a safety hazard. The tyre safety organisation is concerned that attempts to reduce vehicle maintenance costs by selecting tyres which do not incorporate the added technology and features found in run-flat tyre could lead to drivers inadvertently yet significantly changing the handling characteristics of their vehicle, increasing the chance of being involved in an accident.
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