Secondary Restraint for light underlift No.001
IVR Safety Bulletin No. 1
A recent near miss has raised concerns for the Institute and it wishes to inform everyone of the potential problem.
A Powerlift with a Mercedes Sprinter 311 on a front lift was approaching the summit of a steep incline, the technician changed from 2nd gear to 1st, this caused a lag in the transmission and the casualty to rock violently in the spec lift frame.
The shock load broke both yoke straps, the casualty became detached from the spec frame and rolled into the vehicle travelling behind, causing substantial damage to both vehicles, but fortunately no injuries. The advice at this time is to use the brother strap as a secondary restraint. By attaching the pull ring to the spec frame by a shackle, (possibly at the low pull point) this will ensure that the casualty cannot run away from the recovery vehicle in the event the securing straps break. Technicians must ensure that there is enough slack in the brother strap to allow for the articulation of the spec frame.
For more information about this incident or any other Health and Safety issue please contact Terry Crampton (CAE), MIMI, FIVR, Training, Assessment and Quality Management Representative on behalf of IVR (UK) Limited, on 07710 458230.
This picture shows a typical connection on an RDT type unit
In this picture the casualty is secured to the Underlift using a wire loop.
When the Brother strap is used as the secondary restraint it can be fitted like this.
Instructors will be asked to ensure this is included in any training programme for VR05 and the Institute will update the course standards accordingly.
