Why Heavy Equipment Safety Dominates Legislation

When it comes to heavy equipment operations, our law makers have generally left the industry alone. At least until the last decade when legislators started to take a little interest in the field. The only reason they have taken any interest is because of the number of accidents resulting in serious injury and death.

Legislators have slowly increased the rules surrounding heavy equipment operators, crane operators and construction sites in general. It is now mandatory for employers to ensure that their employees have some for of safety training before commencing work in any of those areas. Crane operators now require certification; riggers require proof of their training; and general workers must be able to point to some form of safety training.

Safety training can be delivered by suitably qualified trainers on-site, by a training organization either on-site or at their campus, or as part of a broader training program. It is now common for training programs such as a heavy equipment training program to include safety in its syllabus.

What legislators are hoping to achieve is a reduction in the number of accidents that occur in workplaces. The emphasis now is on employers employing personnel that are adequately trained in safety – in fact it’s the employers who face prosecution if they fail to satisfy this requirement.

When seeking training in areas such as heavy equipment operations, crane operations or any other aspect of construction, it is important now to ensure the training you receive does have safety components that meet these minimum standards. Failing to have this training will now result in one outcome – no one will employ you! At least, not until you undertake that training.

At ATS, we include comprehensive safety training in all our heavy equipment training programs. Our safety training component generally exceeds the minimum requirements as set out by legislation and this helps to make our graduates well sought after by industry.