We have been made aware of the following 2 serious safety incidents and wish to raise awareness amongst industry immediately.
“In March there was an incident involving an arrow board attached to the roof racks of a vegetation spraying ute. The racks detached from the ute while driving at 75 km/h, falling onto the road, luckily missing oncoming traffic. The board was lowered at the time of the incident as shown in the first photo. An investigation was conducted at the time of the incident which highlighted a lack of proactive maintenance on items attached to vehicles. It also highlighted the poor quality of pre-operational inspections as the form used to conduct such inspections is too generic and doesn’t cover retrofitted items to vehicles.
Unfortunately, in identical circumstances a second incident involving another vehicle occurred over the weekend where the roof rack detached while in transit at 100 km/h. This time without falling onto the road.”
What can you do next? Some simple take-aways include:
1️. Check the setup of arrow boards in your organisation, are they secure and fitted correctly
2️. Check to ensure regular maintenance and inspections have occurred including clear documentation
3️. Check maintenance and inspection procedures are sufficient and being undertaken correctly by operators
4️. Check to ensure your pre operational checks on plant & vehicles include retrofitted items
5️. Ensure the appropriate training is provided on how to correctly conduct pre-operational checks and inspections
6️. Communicate to your organisation/co workers, the importance of ensuring arrow boards are laid down when not in use OR whilst travelling
Please share this alert with those working in the traffic management or civil construction industry – help us spread this important information, so future incidents can be avoided.
