CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2019 13 highly complex pieces of equipment that allow advanced lifting solutions with a very high degree of mobility, by the use of compact bespoke chassis. John stressed the importance of roadworthiness inspections and machine records as part of the maintenance process. He explained that training will be a major part of the voluntary scheme and benefit everyone industry-wide through a growth of knowledge and understanding. John went on to explain that, aligned with thorough examinations, the annual roadworthiness inspection scheme will mean that machines can travel to job sites with safety to all road users and deliver the lifting required. For example, ensuring that brakes work efficiently, ensuring there are no oil leaks, checking engine emissions and ensuring that chassis steel elements are free from cracks for road use and more importantly crane use; John explained that such checks are often not robust enough in thorough examinations. John finished his presentation by outlining that the roadworthiness scheme allows companies to constantly monitor and achieve the safest possible operation of mobiles crane for on and off highway use by regular scheduled interventions with full traceability and the use of brake testers. Planned intervention allows time to order parts and build in off-road time to suit the needs of individual businesses. The primary presentation was delivered by CPA Consultant Tim Watson, who has been the main custodian of the Good Practice Guide. Tim outlined the need for a voluntary roadworthiness scheme as vehicle defects can cause accidents, injuries and fatalities and the risk of an incident having serious consequences increases as the weights involved increase. If not roadworthy, mobile cranes can have the potential to cause significant damage and Tim explained that the need for such a scheme has been recognised by the DfT who said: “We are pleased to note that industry is developing a specialised voluntary testing scheme for the larger, bespoke construction cranes. We will help facilitate this wherever possible.” Tim detailed how the voluntary roadworthiness scheme works, in that it mirrors the HGV MOT and requires annual roadworthiness inspections. It is recommended that these are carried out by a third party inspection body, however if crane owners wish to carry out in-house inspections, the scheme imposes stringent criteria to ensure independence and freedom from commercial pressure. The scheme’s inspections and tests are set out in the DVSA HGV Inspection Manual and have pass/fail criteria. Vehicle preparation is required much the same as for an MOT. Tim referred to the recently introduced HGV Inspection Manual, which incorporates the requirements of the EU Roadworthiness Directive and includes a number of changes, such as new definitions of insecure and unsafe modification, amendments to emission testing standards and changes to how defects are defined so that they are now categorised as minor, major and dangerous. He then went through the Scheme Guidance Document in detail. This sets out the requirements of the scheme, providing guidance on the management of the process, inspection personnel, inspection requirements, records, equipment and facilities, and quality assurance. The advice in the document is straightforward, comprehensive and easy to adopt. Tim finished his informative presentation with a declaration from Gordon MacDonald, Head of Enforcement Policy at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who stated: “A properly maintained vehicle fleet is crucial to keeping our roads safe. This is just as true for specialised heavy vehicles as for any others. “When the Government changed the law in 2017 to bring a wider pool of specialist vehicles into statutory annual testing, bespoke chassis cranes and other plant, as well as all vehicles operating under the special types order, retained their exemptions. This was because of the practical difficulties of testing such atypical or outsized vehicles at authorised testing facilities. At the time the Government encouraged industry parties to come forward with workable solutions for testing these vehicles on a voluntary basis. I am delighted that this scheme has been developed as a consequence, in collaboration with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. It provides a clear framework to help operators discharge their legal obligation to maintain a roadworthy fleet. I would encourage all operators of relevant vehicles to consider taking it up.” The final two presentations of the day were delivered by two further members of the CIG working group - Graham Weights, Engineering Manager at Ainscough Crane Hire and Neil Peveller, Operations Director at Mammoet UK. Graham stated that the roadworthiness scheme is a highly practical scheme which gives the industry some formalisation and is not necessarily difficult to achieve. He talked about the training of roadworthiness inspection personnel and the two groups of inspection personnel - in-house maintenance inspection personnel and independent examiners. Both need to clearly understand what roadworthiness legally represents and what would constitute an MOT pass or failure, or a roadside check PG9 Prohibition Notice for example. Graham referred to ASSOCIATIONNEWS: 4