Winching ‘Off Road’- A safety perspective

Winching from ‘off road’ situations is arguably the most dangerous of operations in recovery.

It differs from a straight winch on a hard surface as loads applied to the equipment are increased and the potential for equipment failure, and accidents, is also increased.

The winching modules on the National Training Scheme (NTS) are set out to ensure

that recovery technicians are able to calculate the loads correctly and use the

appropriate equipment safely. They also provide the initial information to develop

their skills in the future.

In addition IVR (UK) Ltd enforce an audit programme that ensures Instructors deliver

the programme correctly and to the highest quality.

VR07. Advanced Winching (Light Vehicle Recovery)

VR07 is designed for those technicians that carry out accident and ‘off road’ recovery. It provides them with a more technical and comprehensive training package, giving them the skills to carry out the more difficult recovery operations.  As with the other modules the primary consideration is safety, reflected by a complete section on these aspects which are checked throughout the skills test. The module then goes on to deal with winches, winch theory, winch ropes and their care, maintenance and capacities.  The ancillary equipment needed to carry out a winching operation is then covered, looking at snatch blocks, chains, shackles and scotch blocks.

Whilst basic winching resistances are covered in the other modules they are revised in this module and used in a far more technical context, due to the nature of the recovery operation.  It then looks at the use of snatch blocks to change direction of pull and gain mechanical advantage, moving on the position of the casualty and how this affects the recovery operation, are they up a slope? down a slope? towing a trailer or caravan? etc.

A complete section deals with overturned vehicles and the technical issues in righting them, from the understanding of moments and fulcrums, forces, loads and the effort required to winch them back over. It also looks at ‘Centres of Gravity’ and its effects on the recovery operation including the stability issues it raises.

In the final section hand signals are dealt with so that the student is able to follow a banks-man’s direction and indeed can be a banks-man himself.

The skills test concentrates on the student’s ability to calculate the resistances required and the equipment needed to carry out the recovery operation safely. A balance has had to be struck between time and cost with this module and so further training and experience will still be needed when the technician returns to  his company.

VR16. Advanced Winching (Heavy Vehicle Recovery)

This module sets out to provide students with the skills to decide on the best course of action when confronted by a heavy winching job.  There will of course be occasions when a Recovery Incident Manager is on scene but he will be relying on the recovery technician to use his expertise in the recovery of a casualty.

Following the standard Health and Safety section the module progresses through winch theory, looking in depth at types of winch available, winch power, ratings and matching equipment correctly. A detailed look at winch rope follows, covering rope construction, care and maintenance, sizes and safe working loads. It also looks at certification, inspection and testing and regulations.

Students learn about a range of ancillary equipment used when winching casualties including snatch blocks, shackles, chains, strops and the use of stabilisers or scotch blocks to stabilise the recovery vehicle during the winching operation.

A complete session is devoted to the dreaded calculations, working out rolling resistance, damage resistance, gradient resistance and ofcourse the total resistance to winching.  Students do sometimes find this difficult but it is essential that they do understand this process. This is crucial in order to be able to calculate how to set up winch lays to increase the winch power required. All of this together gives the student the knowledge to winch a vehicle from an ‘off road’ or similar situation.

A complete section deals with overturned vehicles and the technical issues in righting them, from the understanding of moments and fulcrums, forces, loads and the effort required to winch them back over. It also looks at ‘Centres of Gravity’ and its effects on the recovery operation including the stability issues it raises.

During all the sessions students will learn the hand signal required to direct the recovery technician and will be assessed, during the skills test, on their practical skills in directing a winching operation and following the hand signal directions.

In a revised approach the Skills Assessment for both modules will concentrate on the technician’s ability to winch a casualty on a hard surface through a right angle turn on a multiple lay, more complex skills will be learnt through experience at work.

IVR (UK) Ltd has developed an identical initial Skills Assessment for both these modules whereby the students skills in calculating the effort required to move a casualty, using a multiple lay set-up through 90° is tested. The student can then re-join their company and put the skills learnt into practice, whilst developing new and more complex ones. This has been based on a balance between skills, time and cost.

A more complex assessment involving overturned vehicles is being developed for the technician’s five year Refresher and Re-assessment.