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ALLMI & Tier One Contractor Collaboration - Swing-Up Stabiliser Safety - Feb 23 Update

News of three separate reported fatalities involving the use of lorry mounted crane swing-up stabiliser legs led to the previously reported collaboration between the Tier One Health & Safety Forum and the Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers & Importers (ALLMI) in 2022.

As the collaboration continues, the two parties are providing a reminder to industry of the changes to Tier One Contractor requirements from 1st January 2023. 

Lee Hewitt, UK Health, Safety and Environment Director at Balfour Beatty, comments on behalf of the Tier One Health & Safety Forum “Recently, lorry loaders that didn’t meet Tier One Contractor requirements were only permitted to work if a ‘Spotter’ (someone who supervises retraction of the stabiliser leg) was present. Both the Operator and Spotter must also have completed ALLMI’s E-Learning Module for Swing-Up Stabiliser Safety.  Whilst we continue to support completion of ALLMI’s Module, as of 1st January the option of using the Spotter and E-Learning as a control measure has been removed. Fleet owners are reminded that lorry loaders with swing-up stabilisers must comply with the Tier One Contractor Acceptance Criteria to operate on a Tier One contractor’s site.”   

To assist with the process of identifying conforming equipment, ALLMI has launched a ‘Swing-Up Stabilisers Compliance Register’. 

Via an online portal, manufacturers upload details of lorry loaders with swing-up stabilisers that meet with Tier One Contractor requirements and these machines are then fitted with an ALLMI QR code sticker.  When the QR code is scanned by site staff, the user is taken to a page on the ALLMI website where entry of either the loader crane serial number or vehicle registration confirms the lorry loader’s compliance status. 

ALLMI CEO, Tom Wakefield, comments “The purpose of the Compliance Register is to assist manufacturers, fleet owners and contractors with smooth site access by making it simple to understand when equipment is compliant with Tier One Contractor requirements. So, if the lorry loader isn’t registered with ALLMI or via an alternative ALLMI approved manufacturer-specific QR code system, it will not be permitted to operate on Tier One sites.”     

ALLMI and the Tier One Health & Safety Forum will continue to collaborate on this and other matters, working together on behalf of the lorry loader and construction industries.  ALLMI Chairman, Alan Johnson, comments “The collaboration between ALLMI, its Members and the Tier One companies involved in this project has provided an essential contribution, providing the impetus needed for a topic of this importance.”

While all lorry mounted cranes across Tier One sites are either confirmed as compliant or are modified to a manufacturer approved solution by an approved installer, Tier One contractors encourage the wider industry to adopt their requirements or, where deliveries to site cannot be made by Tier One compliant vehicles, to follow the ALLMI stabiliser training and Spotter approach to mitigate the risk of injury.

The Tier One requirements can be downloaded free of charge here.