10 mobile plant safety tips to reduce the risk of injury

The main risks around mobile plant are being struck by the machine or its load, being crushed or trapped, and being hurt by a fall or a fire. Most of these come down to three things: keep people out of the machine's path, make sure only competent people operate it, and check and plan each movement before it starts. The tips below cover those three things, plus the less obvious risks of heat, fumes, noise and power lines.

Mobile plant includes excavators, loaders, telehandlers, forklifts, elevating work platforms, rollers, trucks and mobile cranes. Under the WHS laws, plant includes machinery, equipment and vehicles. Here is what to do about each risk.

1. Keep people out of the machine's path

Injuries often involve a worker on foot who is close to a moving machine. The simplest control is separation:

• Set up exclusion zones around the plant's working area, and mark them with barricades or cones
• Give pedestrians and plant separate routes wherever possible
• Use a spotter when the plant reverses or works in tight spaces. The spotter stands where the operator can see them, and the operator stops whenever the spotter is unclear
• For vehicles moving around the site, use a traffic management plan. The guide to traffic control plans and traffic management plans explains how to set one up

The spotter SWMS in our library sets out the spotter's role step by step.

2. Make sure only competent people operate plant

An operator must be trained and competent for the specific machine, not just for "plant" in general. Some plant needs a high-risk work licence in most states and territories, including forklifts, cranes and boom-type elevating work platforms. Check which licence applies to each machine before you let anyone use it.

Keep a record of each operator's licence, training and the machines they're signed off on. Check the record before you hand over the keys, and again when someone changes machines.

3. Do a pre-start check every shift

Most breakdowns that cause injuries show up in a pre-start check. Before the first use each day, check:

• Brakes, including the parking brake
• Horn, reversing alarm and lights
• Mirrors, cameras and windows
• Tyres or tracks, and any leaks under the machine
• Seatbelt and any roll-over protection
• Guards, buckets and attachments, and that they're locked on
• A fire extinguisher, and that it's charged and in reach

Use a mobile plant pre-start checklist so every operator covers the same points, and take a machine out of service if anything fails.

4. Keep clear of power lines

Contact with overhead power lines is a serious risk for any plant with a boom, bucket or tipper. Before work starts, find out where the lines are and whether they're live. Keep plant out of the safe approach distance for each line, and get the network owner to isolate or de-energise the line if you need to work closer. Check for buried services too, before you dig.

If plant hits a line, the operator should stay in the cab unless there's a fire or other immediate danger. Tell everyone to keep away and call the network owner.

5. Control falling loads and entrapment

Buckets, loads and attachments can fall, and an operator can crush someone they can't see. Protect people by:

• Never lifting or moving loads over people
• Securing loads on trucks and checking them before the vehicle moves
• Stopping the machine's swing or travel before anyone enters the reach of the boom or bucket
• Keeping people out of the gap between a machine and a fixed structure, such as a wall or a trench edge

6. Protect people from heat and burns

Engines, exhausts, hydraulic lines and brakes get very hot, and fuel can ignite on a hot surface. Let the machine cool before maintenance, wear gloves when handling hot parts, and don't refuel while the engine is running or hot. Use grab handles and three points of contact when climbing on and off.

7. Limit exposure to exhaust fumes

Diesel and petrol engines produce fumes that can cause respiratory problems. Don't run an engine in an enclosed space unless the space is ventilated. If you can't control the fumes by ventilation or by using a cleaner machine, give workers respiratory protection that suits the risk, and check it fits.

8. Protect hearing

Plant is often loud, and noise damage builds up over time without any warning. Find out how loud the work is, then:

• Provide hearing protection that fits, and make sure workers use it
• Keep machines serviced, since worn parts are often noisier
• Rotate workers away from the noisiest jobs where practical
• Get a hearing test if workers are exposed for long periods

9. Keep the work surface safe

Uneven ground, soft edges and wet surfaces can tip a machine or cause a worker to slip. Check the ground before the plant moves onto it, keep trenches and spoil heaps back from the edge, and don't drive over ground you haven't assessed. Park machines on level ground with the brake set and the attachment lowered.

10. Plan for fire

Mobile plant can catch fire from a fuel or hydraulic leak, a hot exhaust or a damaged electrical circuit. Check for leaks at each pre-start, keep an extinguisher within reach of the operator, and make sure every operator knows how to shut the machine down in an emergency and how to get out of the cab.

Write your mobile plant controls down

The tips above only work if they're written down and followed. For the same risks on civil and earthmoving sites, see earthmoving safety. Your SWMS or SOP should say which plant is in use, who can operate it, where the exclusion zones are, what the pre-start check covers and what to do if a line is struck. A Telehandler SWMS and the plant hazard checklist for powered mobile plant are a practical starting point. The mobile plant and vehicles hazard page lists further controls.

For more on how to set up plant controls, read the model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of plant in the workplace.

How SafetyDocs helps

SafetyDocs has expert-written SWMS, SOPs and checklists for mobile plant, including powered mobile plant SOPs and a job hazard analysis. You fill in the job, client and site details once, and the crew signs on from their phone. When a control changes, everyone who signed the old version is asked to sign the new one. It helps you keep these records in order, but it doesn't make your site compliant on its own.

Common questions

Who is responsible for mobile plant safety on site? Everyone with control of the plant or the work area. The person conducting the business or undertaking that owns or operates the plant has primary duties, and the principal contractor and operators have duties too. Agree who does what before the work starts.

Does every operator need a licence? No. Many machines don't need a high-risk work licence. Forklifts, cranes and boom-type elevating work platforms usually do, and each state or territory sets its own list. Check with your regulator before you assign a machine.

What should I do if a worker is hit by plant? Make the area safe, get medical help straight away, and report the incident to your WHS regulator if it's a notifiable incident. Keep the machine out of use until it's been checked and the cause is known.

How often should I do a pre-start check? At the start of every shift, and after any change of operator or any repair. Record the result so you can show it was done.

This is general information, not advice. Check the current requirements with your WHS regulator.