Technical News
New UK Health and Safety Policy
The UK Department for Works and Pensions, which includes responsibility for health and safety, issued a document in March 2011 which sets out proposals for changing its approach to health and safety regulation. It includes proposals to charge businesses that flout the regulations and adopt a lighter touch to those that comply. This can be seen at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/good-health-and-safety.pdf. The document "Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone" was announced by the minister as the next step in the government's plans for reform of the health and safety system in Great Britain. The document comprised four key areas:
• Register of occupational safety and health consultants
• The new health and safety framework
• Making health and safety simpler
• Review of health and safety regulation
Impact of New Tractor Regulations on Construction Equipment
The European Commission has proposed to simplify EU law on agricultural and forestry vehicles (tractors, trailers and towed equipment): 50 Directives and the related implementing legislation of 27 Member States would be replaced by just five Regulations. There is potential for a direct effect on construction equipment with a new category 'U' added, designated non-road mobile machinery (NRMM). For this group of machines type approval would be optional and it could solve the current problem of there being no harmonisation of road regulations in the EU. A problem is that the scope of the Directive would be machinery used in agriculture and forestry. This would allow it to be used for, for example, wheel loaders, wheeled excavators and telehandlers when used in agriculture, but not when the same models were to be used as construction equipment or for the full range of construction equipment. Following extensive discussion between the European associations for construction and agricultural equipment (CECE and CEMA) a joint industry position was agreed to lobby for the removal of category U from the Directive on condition that the Commission include instead a legally binding commitment on themselves to develop a proposal for a Directive to cover the on-highway travel of all NRMM. However, at a European Parliament public hearing in March it was apparent that the Commission and some MEPs had different views, most accepting that there was a problem but with different views on how to proceed. Mark Ireland (JCB) has led the CECE work to prepare amendments to the proposal for the EP to consider, based on the two possible approaches: Primarily, to remove category U entirely and have the Commission bring forward a separate regulation for harmonising the regulations for NRMM, as jointly agreed with CEMA. As a fall-back, to expand the scope of category U so that it covers all NRMM, and includes appropriate technical requirements. This is a much longer and more complex document as the Commission proposal is very incomplete in this regard. Meetings are being held with key players in the Commission and Council to push for the preferred option but, if that fails, then we must put full support behind the fall-back position as this is a critical piece of legislation that could have either a very favourable impact on OEMs or cause big problems and expense. |
