Miller UK, the global quarrying and construction machine attachment manufacturer, has teamed up with Ward & Burke Construction Ltd., a civil engineering company, to produce a series of operator safety training videos. Guy Woodford reports.
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Jason Glynn, chief technical support for construction equipment at Ward & Burke, said: “There are many items of legislation appropriate to the use of quick couplers, most of which stress the importance of providing operators with sufficient information and instruction to carry out their job safely. Ward & Burke offer a complete in-house solution to civil engineering construction problems and our core business beliefs are focused strongly around operator and onsite safety. We’re always looking out for the latest technology to ensure the safe operation of our machinery and when Miller showed us Miller Mate, we knew that we had to add it to our machines.”
Last year Ward & Burke invested in 40 Miller Mates which have been retrofitted onto all of its machines. The firm also purchased 80 Miller PowerLatch quick couplers. Following this investment, Ward & Burke recognised the value of and requirement to produce its own quick coupler/Miller Mate training videos. These have since been displayed at the company’s regular safety briefings and continuous operator training sessions.
Barry Robison, Miller UK marketing manager, said: “We were asked to support Ward & Burke with the development of a series of videos demonstrating the safe working practices for the use of quick couplers. The core aim of the safety videos was to educate and inform machine operators on the safe use of quick couplers whilst reducing the misuse and mismanagement of the equipment.”
The safety videos were filmed at Finning’s impressive brand new state-of-the-art service centre in Dublin, Ireland, using one of Ward & Burke’s brand new CAT 335 machines. The new safety videos were premiered during a Ward & Burke workforce briefing in November 2017 at the firm’s Manchester office, hosted by Jason Glynn and company director Michael Ward.
Glynn, who was instrumental in the creation of the training videos, added: “The Miller Mate safety training videos produced in conjunction with Miller UK have been positively received and will certainly support Ward & Burke’s drive for workforce safety. The videos will be posted onto YouTube as well as the Ward & Burke website so they can be played to operators as part of routine safety briefings. More importantly, we now know that when our machines are out on site, every operator will be reminded of the correct and safe operating procedure every time they change the attachment.”
Russell Lowe, business development manager at Miller UK said: “It was a pleasure working with Ward & Burke on this project, the focus was purely on workforce and onsite safety.
“Following Ward & Burke’s investment in Miller Mates which have since been retrofitted to all of their machines, together with the coupler alert safety system, the natural progression was to ensure they were utilised as an integral part of operator safety training. This combined with the recent purchase of the Miller PowerLatch quick couplers, which are recognised for being the safest on the market, is guaranteed to ensure that Ward & Burke continue their drive for workforce safety.”
