UK Federation unveils world’s first course for high reach excavator operators.
The National Federation of Demolition Contractors has introduced the world’s first training course for operators of the increasingly popular high reach, demolition specification excavators.
Developed in conjunction with the National Demolition Training Group, the new course builds upon the leadership shown by the Federation when it introduced its High Reach Guidance Notes document some five years ago (a document that is currently being revised).
According to NFDC chief executive Howard Button, the new course helps plug an obvious gap in demolition training provision. “Twenty years ago, these machines were virtually unheard of, and even 10 years ago they had something of a novelty value. But they are almost ubiquitous on UK demolition sites today, and training had failed to keep pace with their growing popularity,” Button asserts. “We have been mindful for some time that, in the wrong hands, these highly specialised machines could be extremely dangerous. We sought to address that at a corporate level with the guidance notes, and we are now addressing this from the ground up with the operator’s training course.”
Open to demolition plant operatives holding an A65B CPCS card for excavators with a working height up to 15 metres, the new three-day course is designed to introduce candidates to additional health, safety and legislation required when operating a demolition-adapted high reach excavator at working heights of up to 30 metres. The course indentifies methodology and additional structural awareness required when dismantling differing structures. The course also covers specific machine controls and maintenance requirements based on an array of manufacturers’ operating manuals. Candidates will also visit a manufacturers’ premises where they will have the opportunity to operate the machine in a controlled environment.
The first course is scheduled to run from 3 to 5 April 2012. The inaugural course will be open to a maximum of eight candidates but further courses will be available in the following months.
“This course has been a long time in development because we wanted to make sure that it could keep up with the rapid changes taking place in this specific equipment field,” Howard Button concludes. “But we are satisfied that the new course will provide an experienced demolition plant operator with an excellent introduction to machines with working heights from 15 to 30 metres, making them safer and more productive in the process.”
Further information on the course content is available on the NFDC website.
