Importance of Mobile Plant Risk Assessment

The mobile plant is a major cause of workplace incidents, and you need to protect your employees or labors by implementing mobile plant risk management system. Some of the essential characteristics of a mobile plant are its mobility in combination with the level of the skills and experience of the operator, particulars of the environment of the workplace, the presence of people at a workplace, and maintenance requirements related to risk assessment of the said plants. There are several reputed private agencies which help the clients for mobile plant risk assessment and get the clearance. If you have any business of mobile plants, then you need to get the clearance certificate from the government. In this case, you must submit all precautions or safety measurement reports to the government to avail the certificate or license. So, you must hire a mobile plant risk management service in this regard, and they can help you to maintain the safety of your plants.

What is a Mobile Plant?

Any machinery, tool, appliance, equipment, implement, any fittings and components of the equipment are classified as a plant. There are various types of mobile plant used in various industries such as manufacturing, mining, construction, transport and storage, agriculture, fishing, and forestry, and much more.  Some mobile plants that can be used for multiple purposes like:

• A plant that is used to lift or move material such as cranes, forklifts, dumpers, elevating work platforms, and many more.
• Earth movers such as a bulldozer, excavators, draglines, backhoes, etc.
• Tractors.

The work health and safety regulation regulate the registration of the mobile plant, operation standards, and licensing of the high-risk plant operation. The mobile plant is associated with risk to health and safety of both operators and the other workmen working on the site. Thus, it is important to understand the mobile plant risk assessment and standard operating procedures in order to achieve a safe and healthy working environment.

Risk Factors and Injuries Associated with Mobile Plant Risk Assessment

The mobility of the mobile plant is its most essential characteristics which present a fundamental workplace hazard. The most common causes of the mobile plant related incidents can be grouped into four categories:

• Work organization

o   Lack of, or inadequate supervision

o   Miscommunication, or fail to communicate

o   Time pressures

o   Poor planning and design of workplace, task or the plant itself/

• Equipment

o   Poor selection of mobile plant

o   Lack of maintenance, or inadequate maintenance

o   Lack of control measures

o   Manufacturing faults

o   Design faults

o   Environmental factors such as terrain

• Procedures

o   Lack of, or inadequate procedures or fail to adhere to the procedure

o   Over-use or inadequate use

o   Unauthorized person operates or maintains the plant

• People

o   Lack of or inadequate training in using the plant, operating and even maintenance of plant

o   Lack of knowledge or experience with the working of the plant

o   Unauthorized access

o   Lapses in the concentration by the operator of the plant.

Identification of Hazards

Some of the hazards that are found in workplaces are:

• Mechanical: a person getting hit by the plant or its projected parts, etc.
• Noise: contact with the vibrating plant and its tools
• Manual handling: handling of unstable and heavy loads.
• Work environment: working under inadequate light or bad weather or narrow working space.
• Chemical substances: inhalation of chemical substances
• Biological: Workplace might be prone to microbes and mosquitoes
• Gravitational: you can fall from height or work under suspended load.

The mobile plant risk assessment comprises of identifying the severity of the hazard, compliance level of the business operator, and the probability of such risks in near future. Hence, only satisfactory observation work permits are issued after a complete mobile plant risk assessment is accomplished.