Looking after a tracked mini digger or dumper

Many small builders, landscapers and farmers use a mini digger or a dumper that runs on rubber tracks. At work, the machine is work equipment. The employer who provides it has to keep it in a safe condition and in good repair.

Kept in good repair

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says that under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), all work equipment must be "maintained in an efficient state, in efficient order and in good repair". Where a machine has a maintenance log, PUWER requires it to be kept up to date.

HSE says an employer who provides equipment, from hand tools up to larger plant, needs to show the arrangements that keep it in a safe condition.

Checks, servicing and the maker's instructions

For excavators, HSE says the people running them should set up daily visual checks, regular inspections and servicing schedules, in line with the manufacturer's instructions. Drivers should be encouraged to report defects. Faults should be put right quickly, and a machine with a fault that affects safety should be taken out of service.

HSE says maintenance should be planned, ideally using the manufacturer's maintenance instructions. Only people competent to do the work should carry it out.

Machines that move

PUWER has extra rules for mobile work equipment. Where a machine could roll over, HSE says the person providing it should minimise that risk, for example with a rollover protective structure (ROPS). Anyone who hires mobile equipment out has to manage the risks of its moving too.

People near the machine

HSE says most fatal and serious injuries with excavators happen while the machine is moving, slewing or working. Moving, it strikes a pedestrian, often while reversing. Slewing, it traps a person against a fixed structure or a vehicle. Working, the bucket or attachment strikes someone, or the bucket falls off.

HSE says people should be kept away from the working area with barriers. When slewing in a confined area, HSE says a clearance of over 0.5m needs to be kept between any part of the machine, particularly the ballast weight, and the nearest obstruction.

Buckets and quick hitches

A quick hitch lets the driver change a bucket or other attachment quickly. HSE has issued a safety alert about them. In the fatal incidents it describes, the common theme was a missing retaining pin or bar.

HSE says there should be a system for checking that the pin is in place before work starts, and every time a different attachment is fitted. A quick hitch also needs thorough examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER). For a hitch fixed permanently to the machine, HSE says that is every 12 months, or at an interval a competent person sets.

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