As many as 400 people every year may be killed by an accident involving heavy machinery. When operating heavy equipment, it’s vital that you take the right precautions. Working with heavy machinery is a big responsibility, this is a role where you can’t afford to make mistakes.
So what exactly do you need to avoid when operating this kind of gear? This article tells you everything you’ll need to know.
1. Drinking Alcohol
One of the biggest mistakes you can possibly make when operating heavy machinery is drinking alcohol. Drinking alcohol while driving a normal vehicle is dangerous enough, but the risk is even greater during heavy equipment operations.
You should also be extremely cautious about operating heavy machinery after a night of heavy drinking. When you show up to work the following morning, you could still be impaired from the night before.
2. Using Drugs
Using both legal and illegal drugs could potentially be dangerous for operating heavy machinery. If you are prescribed any kind of medication, always check with your doctor that it won’t cause impairment. There are a wide variety of medications that make it unsafe to operate machinery, and these medications are not always immediately obvious, for example, with some allergy medications, you should not operate machines.
3. Operating Without Qualifications
You should only operate machines that you’re explicitly qualified to use. You should never try to operate something you haven’t been trained to utilize safely.
Not only is it dangerous to operate a machine without a license, you could also put your company in some legal hot water if anything were to go wrong. Stay safe and only operate machinery when you have the proper training
4. Know Your Limits
You also need to know your limits. Operating heavy machinery is a big responsibility that you should not take lightly. If you feel tired or otherwise uncomfortable operating the machinery, you should not continue.
Being tired can be just as debilitating as being drunk or otherwise intoxicated. Whenever you operate heavy machinery, you need to make sure you feel well-rested and alert. Ideally, you should be operating on around 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
5. Watch Your Surroundings
Finally, you need to make sure you’re aware of your surroundings at all times. When operating machinery, hazards can emerge quickly. If you’re not alert of what’s going on around you, someone could get injured.
You also need to make sure everyone is using the correct safety equipment. Check out shop.equipmentshare.com for the best safety gear.
Take Care When Operating Heavy Equipment
As you can see, there are many hazards you’ll need to learn to avoid when operating heavy equipment. If you’re responsible for using machinery, make sure you have a clear head, that you’re qualified to use it and that you’re aware of what’s going on around you.
If you want to learn more about some other work-related topics, check out the rest of our blog posts.
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