Useful Safety Tips When Your Hire an Excavator

First of all, before you even think about starting work with an excavator, you should be sure that you are hiring from a well-established and reputable tool hire company that will provide the right type of equipment for your project and provide training to allow you to operate an excavator safely.

If you are working in your garden and your project is relatively small, with only a limited amount of earth requiring movement, it’s important that you hire an excavator that is suited to the job. For example, rather than hiring a 7 ton excavator which is surplus to your requirements and will be harder to control, particularly in a small space, you are more likely to require a mini excavator of up to 1.5 tons.

Before you start your project, you should always have a trial run first to avoid making costly mistakes. Practice driving it and digging out holes to gain a better understanding and feel of how it works; this will help you to work out the best way to tackle the task at hand. Remember the tips and recommendations that were given to you by the tool hire company and be sure to read the manual for the particular excavator model that your hire.

At all times, the driver should be the only person riding an excavator. Carrying passengers is extremely dangerous.

Always move the arm of the excavator slowly and look around in all directions for any pedestrians or obstacles. When travelling, always keep the arm attachments low.

Don’t dig too close to the excavator or underneath it as you risk tipping and injuring yourself or others, as well as causing expensive damages to the machinery and the ground.

You should make yourself familiar with the recommended maximum weight that your machine can lift and make sure you lift no more than this. Lifting too heavy a weight can lead to tipping and causing injury to yourself or others, as well as potentially damaging your expensive machinery.

Keep your safety belt at all times when operating an excavator. When moving over uneven ground, you could lose your balance and as a result, lose control of the machine, increasing the potential for injury or damages.

You should always wear safety clothing such as steel toe cap boots, gloves and a helmet. It is also worth considering any situation where your eyes may be impaired, for example, if the sun is particularly bright and causes glare on your eyes, you should wear sunglasses to make sure you have complete control.