 Making sure that training pays
November 15th 2010
Right across industry, an increasing number of companies are recognising that the ‘human factor’ is critical to achieving high standards of safety, says Geoff Holden, chief executive, Lifting Equipment Engineers Association. The vast majority of workplace accidents can be traced back to human error – a lack of planning or risk analysis, inadequate supervision, or poorly trained staff using unfamiliar equipment, for example. The overhead lifting industry is certainly no exception, and it remains a significant source of accidents and injuries. In the worst cases the results are tragic, but even relatively minor incidents can prove costly in terms of damage to the load, plant, equipment and buildings, as well as disruption to production, construction or material handling schedules.
Legislation such as LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) rightly emphasises the need to use competent staff for overhead lifting operations. Nonetheless, it is important that employers fully appreciate this encompasses a range of different tasks – planning, supervision, operation, maintenance, test and examination – all of which require a different set of skills and experience.
Unfortunately, in common with a number of other engineering sectors, the overhead lifting industry has suffered from a significant skills gap for several years. Many companies have developed effective training schemes to help address this. However, this is far from universal, and too much of the training that takes place lacks the necessary rigour to have a real impact on the safety and efficiency of overhead lifting operations.
With its long established Diploma examination and supporting distance learning courses, the LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association) has taken a leading role in the education of engineers intending to test and examine overhead lifting equipment. In the past two years, significant steps have been taken to improve the accessibility of such training, with a view to increasing the pool of talent available to the companies that provide such services. This has included investment in an online training portal, which is particularly important given the globalisation of the overhead lifting industry and the desperate need for qualified engineers in areas such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Even more significantly, earlier this year the LEEA launched a scheme that offers universal access to its courses on test, examination and maintenance. This means that, for the first time, they are open to anyone interested in pursuing a career in this field, regardless of whether they are currently employed by a LEEA member.
Over the next few years, these measures, combined with the LEEA’s on-going investment in its training centre in Huntingdon, should help to bridge the skills gap. However it is unlikely to eliminate the dangerous problem of inadequately trained staff attempting to take on the skilled and specialist task of testing and examining lifting equipment. To help address this, in 2009 the LEEA started issuing TEAM (Test, Examine And Maintain) identity cards to engineers that have passed the Diploma examination. These have since been supplemented by log books that provide comprehensive and up-todate details of the holder’s relevant work experience. Employers are therefore urged to insist that the TEAM card is shown by anyone proposing to work on overhead lifting equipment that they are responsible for. This will not only guarantee that employers receive a genuinely expert insight into the condition and legality of their equipment, but also help to ensure they meet their legal obligation to use only competent staff for the thorough examination of overhead lifting equipment.
Test, examination and maintenance is clearly a specialist discipline and, on a day-to-day basis, employers are perhaps more likely to be focused on ensuring that staff responsible for operating, planning and supervising overhead lifts have the necessary skills and experience. In this respect, the LEEA has once again taken action to help employers source good quality training. In 2009 an accreditation scheme was launched, providing a range of independently verified training courses for staff involved in the use or management of lifting equipment.
Under this scheme, LEEA member companies that meet a set of rigorous standards can offer these courses on a commercial basis, and display the LEEA Accredited Training Company logo. Lasting up to 2? days, standard courses include lifting and slinging, lifting equipment inspection, LOLER and PUWER, and management of lifting and slinging. The accreditation of member companies is undertaken by the LEEA’s own team of technical officers and sets demanding criteria in areas such as the qualifications and experience of trainers, the standard of training facilities, and the quality of student assessment.
Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico have put industrial safety high on the agenda – and dramatically highlighted the potential consequences when things go wrong. In seeking to reduce the risks, employers are increasingly aware of the need for appropriately trained staff. However, in industries such as overhead lifting, the shortage of skilled staff and difficulty of sourcing proven suppliers of services such as training, and test and examination of equipment, are serious issues. Established in 1944 and with over 360 members worldwide, the LEEA is uniquely positioned to help address these problems.
LEEA members have responded positively to the initiatives that have been introduced in recent years. However, success will ultimately depend on the willingness of end users to insist on suppliers that hold the stringent independent qualifications and accreditation provided by the LEEA.
Longer-lasting LiftEx for 2010
LiftEx, the UK’s only trade show dedicated to overhead lifting, will be bigger than ever in 2010. Organised annually by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), for the first time the show will run for two days, and feature more exhibitors, better displays and demonstrations, and an extended programme of expert speakers. LiftEx 2010 will be held at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, on Thursday November 18th and Friday November 19th. Following an extremely successful show in Chester in 2008, feedback from exhibitors and visitors fully supported extending the show.
Admission to LiftEx will remain free of charge for visitors. Exhibitor packages are extremely competitively priced (01480 432801). Information can be found at www.leeaint.com More articles from Lifting Equipment Engineers Association: | 
