Ladders Came Up Short and Cost Lives in London Blaze, Firefighters Say (NYT)

(From the New York Times, By ROD NORDLAND -- JULY 8, 2017)

LONDON — More lives could have been saved in the Grenfell Tower blaze in London, firefighters say, but a lack of equipment, particularly fire engines with ladders high enough to reach the top floors of the 24-story building, impeded the rescue effort.

Read More 

Thoughts on Grenfell and Working at Height...

The Grenfell Tower catastrophe is bringing some shortcomings into focus as far as the availability of rescue equipment that might have been able to assist the emergency services.  There are some pieces of equipment around London that might have been able to reach to the upper stories to provide an avenue of escape.

People familiar with powered access equipment may be aware of the broad population of access equipment from scissor lifts to very tall truck mounted machines, but there has not been a connection between the emergency services and the owners of those machines.

What if the equipment rental companies and the local fire service administrators could begin to learn from each other with the intent of saving lives?  The emergency services could have contact information and lists of the available equipment, and the equipment companies could have employees that have undergone some basic training to safely assist fire personnel in rescues.

Grenfell Tower

The news of the Grenfell  Tower fire is tragic.

There did not seem to be any tall firefighting equipment on the scene that could reach near the top of the tower.  I had thought that the London Fire Brigade had more tall equipment.

The U.S. cities that have some tall aerial rescue and suppression equipment are fortunate that leaders worked to get the equipment that could save lives in a high-rise incident.  Of course, the 110’ and 118’ ‘tall’ ladders and platforms would only work on structures up to 100’-110’ for rescue, and fire apparatus is now available that will reach up to 365’ (112 meters).

I am sure that there will be a plethora of investigations as to what can be learned from this event, but for now, we should all be thinking of the victims, as well as the heroes that have been risking everything in order to save lives and property.

Worldwide AWP Accident Report

AWPT recently released third-quarter information about worldwide accidents on AWPs.

Between July-August 2012, there were six accidents that resulted in seven fatalities, bringing the 2012 total to 26 fatalities.  All of the third quarter accidents were with category 3b (mobile boom) machines.  The majority of the deaths occur in the United States.

Without strict requirements for what constitutes “appropriate training,” the United States cannot hope to lessen the number of fatalities due to AWPs.  Until the industry truly adopts a “safety first” approach to work, where training investments of both time and money are not shied away from, accidents due to operator error will continue.  With an estimated 85-88% of accidents occurring due to operator error, the necessity for clear, regulated training is obvious.

Are you appropriately trained to operate aerial lifts?  Are your employees?  Refer to the industry’s Best Practices guide on the topic.  Hopefully with more people receiving appropriate training, the number of fatalities due to AWP accidents will decrease.

The Institute featured in Elevating Safety

The Institute for Aerial Lift Safety featured in the 2011 Elevating Safety magazine from IPAF.  The article “What it Takes to Be an Aerial Work Platform Instructor” highlights trainers from around the United States, including Katherine Hinkel from The Institute for Aerial Lift Safety in Philadelphia, PA. 

Focusing on the importance of having a qualified instructor, the article defines what that term means, both from the ANSI standard and from the perspective of the instructors.

“An instructor has to be passionate about the material,” says Katherine Hinkel… “Providing AWP operators with the knowledge they need to complete their job safely is an important task for any trainer.  The decisions made regarding ANSI standards and OSHA regulations affect all of us in the industry, and a trainer needs to be aware of those developments.”

All AWPT instructors must have adequate operating experience, have experience training, and complete the AWPT instructor training course with an AWPT master trainer. 

IALS holds training course

On August 17, the Institute held an AWPT operator’s course for categories (1b) and (3b) at our facility.  We had 6 students from all over the country in attendance, with each student successfully receiving a PAL card.

 

Our morning session, a classroom lecture that covers all aspects of regulations, potential hazards, types of equipment, and other important topics.

Here you see one of our trainers instructing students on the proper technique for a pre-start inspection on a category 1b machine. 

Here is a student navigating the challenge course for category 3b operators.  Operators must avoid the cones and successfully complete a task after doing a workplace inspection and pre-start inspection to demonstrate their competence in the category.

We had a great day and we congratulate these students on their success. 

Highlighting Industry Best Practices

In February of 2010, an group of industry professionals released a document called Statement of Best Practices of General Training and Familiarization for Aerial Work Platform Equipment. This 20-page document aims to educate everyone in the industry about several important aspects of AWP training.

One of the most common misunderstandings is the difference between general training and familiarization. Page 11 of the document has a very helpful table that clears up this issue perfectly, and page 14 has a more detailed table. In the simplest form, familiarization refers to “a specific model” of machine, whereas general training would be for “multiple pieces of equipment of a particular type.”

Other excellent additions are tables outlining the responsibilities of the manufacturer, dealer, user, and operator as far as general training, and a review of compliance requirements.

This document does an excellent job of consolidating current information and delivering an accessible document for the industry as far as best practices.

The Institute and AWPT recommend that all aerial lift operators and managers have access to this document to further understand their safety and training responsibilities.