Moving dangerous goods safely: Crane Away compliance
At Crane Away, compliance has always been a top priority. It’s a subject that never stops evolving, so there is always an opportunity to gain new skills and cement procedures.
During July, we completed several jobs for high profile companies and businesses and needed to demonstrate that we have safety procedures in place that are on par with the larger companies – with the added advantage of being small enough to make it personal.
Risk assessments
A risk assessment done well should determine possible mishaps, their likelihood and consequences, and the tolerances for such events. We can work alongside you to get a thorough and accurate risk assessment, and where possible carry out a site visit where any potential issues can be documented and considered when writing the method statement.
Method statement
A method statement is a document which describes how to do a job safely. We can provide these for whatever we are loading and unloading, taking into consideration all the risks identified in the risk assessment. This will detail the personal protective equipment, health and safety contacts and control equipment required to keep everyone safe. It also forms part of the requirements for many building sites and businesses.
Lifting plan
A lifting plan provides a systematic approach towards planning a lift and ensures that the lifting operation is properly managed. For example, a lifting plan would ensure that the crane is safely deployed and operated, and the lifting team are clear about their roles and responsibilities. A lifting plan typically contains details of the load, lifting equipment, the team involved, the lifting method and ideally a diagram or sketch. It should take note of environmental conditions and any other important information.
Compliance in action
We recently utilised this compliance to safely move a Biogas Flare from a Commercial Biomethane-to-grid Plant in Poundbury Dorchester, and relocate it at Farm in Shropshire. The purchaser, our client in Shropshire had asked us to prepare all the compliance in advance. When we arrived on site for our safety briefing on the morning of the lift, we were able to present our methods and lifting plan to ensure the job went smoothly but most importantly safely.
In the second week of July, we were asked to take a shepherd’s hut incorporating luxury toilets from Dorset to Arberlour, Scotland. The Macallan, a world class distillery in North East Scotland, has various elements open to the public and we needed to ensure that procedures were in place to make their delivery.
We provided a risk assessment and method statement, taking into consideration the environment that we were in. We are pleased to report that the job was successful and the beautiful shepherd’s hut will soon be operational for guests in a privileged position beside the River Spey.
ADR Training
Lastly but by no means least, Carl spent some time in the classroom completing his ADR training. ADR is the European agreement concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by road. ADR ensures that any goods deemed to be dangerous can freely cross international border by road, providing that the goods and drivers comply with the regulations.
ADR training courses ensure that all drivers working in the transportation industry have the knowledge, skills and expertise they need to ship dangerous goods from A to B.
The first part of his training undertaken in London covered what is called the ‘core’ elements:
- Class 2 (Gases)
- Class 3 (Flammable liquids)
- Class 4 (Flammable solids)
- Class 5 (Oxidising agents)
- Class 6 (Toxics)
- Class 8 (Corrosives)
- Class 9 (Miscellaneous)
We took the opportunity to add an extra day, completing Class 7 – Radioactive Material. We are pleased to report that we have received confirmation that he has passed both exams.
We look forward to utilising these newly gained skills in the future.
