45
MAY-JUNE 2013
access
INTERNATIONAL
TRAINING
Brazilian focus
B
oosted by major infrastructure work,
such as railway lines, hydroelectric
power plants, roadways and
developments set to meet the needs of mega
sporting events, the Brazilian access market is
in full expansion.
In the face of a growing realisation that
using mechanical solutions for working at
height brings greater productivity, there is a
noted increase in market requirements for the
adoption of safer practices in the operation of
access equipment on construction sites.
Despite being considered significantly safer
than other access options for working at height,
aerial work platforms can still cause fatal
accidents for operators and all those involved in
the activity.
There are no official numbers when it comes
to accidents involving this equipment in Brazil,
but a report by accident analysis specialist
Sistema de Referência em Análise e Prevenção
de Acidentes de Trabalho – Sirena, carried out
in 2010, shows that falls are the leading cause
of fatal accidents in the construction sector.
In Brazil, some 254 deaths were recorded in
the construction sector in 2010, with 20% of
that total caused by falls from height. A drop
is expected in this percentage based on the
understanding that, even with aerial platforms
being safer than traditional equipment, it is
necessary to employ people trained to operate
them.
Raising standards
The concept of these machines is still relatively
new in Brazil. In the USA, sites measuring
70,000 m
2
commonly use around 400 units
of access equipment while, in Brazil, we use
around 80 to construct the same area. Today,
the Brazilian market has, for example, around
8,000 scissor lifts, compared to the USA, with
400,000.
Considering this reality, companies that lease
aerial work platforms, along with their clients,
face a huge challenge to guarantee safety in
the use of access equipment to minimise the
accidents. Mills, one of Latin America’s leading
companies in the access equipment leasing
sector, with a fleet of over 4,000 units and
with the largest geographical coverage in the
Brazilian market, feels that merely offering
equipment in a good working condition, with
operators trained for use, is simply not enough
to ensure safe employment. It is necessary to
raise awareness not only among operators, but
Sergio Kariya, director
of Brazil-based access
equipment rental giant
Mills Rental, writes
about the attitude
towards safe working
practices in the country
and how his company is
promoting the cause.
Mills Rental supplies
its equipment to a
construction site in
Brazil
A Mills
Rental self-
propelled
boom
carries out
second floor
construction
work
among the leaders on construction sites, too.
These managers do not operate the platforms
directly; however, they need to develop a
perception of the danger involved in using
equipment at great heights and thus, must
undergo the same training as operators.
Based on this premise, Mills and Vale -
the world’s biggest mining company, with
operations in 30 countries and headquarters
in Brazil - joined efforts to significantly
increase the safety of over 20,000 construction
workers in the country. A pioneer in training
operators and demonstrators using the IPAF
scheme – with 11 training centres spread
throughout Brazil – Mills created a project to
train the mining company’s employees on six
construction sites in the states of Minas Gerais
and Espírito Santo.
Over a period of eight months during 2012,
171 managers from sites and 12 companies
subcontracted by the mining firm participated
in training.The result is reflected in personnel
being more aware of risks and having safer
attitudes when it comes to their daily routine
on construction sites. Furthermore, this leads
to the passing on of information, and therefore
multiplying knowledge and safe working
practices. Training continues until the end of
this year, with the goal of training a total of 350
managers from six large-scale mining projects.
The initiative by Mills and Vale has already
borne fruit. During the months of training, no
accidents were recorded involving aerial work
platforms - a very encouraging result.
AI
