CCF South Australia and Plant Assessor team up to make machinery safety easy

The ‘CCF SA Plant Assessor Helpdesk’ is a dedicated service which gives CCF SA members preferential access to Plant Assessor’s revolutionary machine safety assessment process.

The Plant Assessor Helpdesk was the brainchild of CCF SA Business Manager – Member Services, Frank Lucks, and HSE Senior Advisor, John Bowden.

“CCF SA members have for some time been contacting the CCF to seek assistance with this complex and sometimes daunting requirement. After some lengthy discussions and several meetings to determine how best to provide this service to members, a partnership was formed and the long awaited CCF SA Plant Assessor Help Desk was launched,” said Mr Lucks.

John Bowden said, “The CCF Plant Assessor Helpdesk provides members with a simple and effective means of achieving legislative compliance on a wide variety of plant that has not previously been available on such a scale. This enables users to conduct a detailed assessment and corrective action plan that is specifically tailored to their plant, using a database of over 75,000 items of plant ranging from basic power tools to the most sophisticated machinery. The end result of this is a more rigorous and systematic risk management process that ensures that the plant owner meets their duty of care obligations in terms of OH&S.”

The Range of Equipment Available

Plant Assessor is the world’s largest plant hazard assessment database, with make and model specific assessments available for approximately 75,000 pieces of plant and equipment and the list is still growing.

Plant Assessor can be used to assess an extremely broad range of machine types across a range of industries, and includes all common mobile earthmoving, lifting, agricultural and industrial plant, an extensive range of fixed workshop, engineering and manufacturing plant, and with a broad range of specific plant for industries such as rail, electricity distribution, waste collection and processing.

One Off Assessments

One of the most important considerations for the CCF SA office related to the needs of their smaller members. These members operate smaller fleets of equipment and need to be able to assess one or two machines, without the need to learn how to use Plant Assessor online.

This led to the development of the “assisted assessment” process. This process only requires two things from the client; to provide the make and model of the machine, and undertake a physical inspection of the machine following the simple step by step Plant Assessor process. Plant Assessor staff do the rest.

Assessment speed varies from client to client, however it is reasonable to expect an inspection will take approximately 10-15 minutes, and the whole process, from the issue of instructions to receipt of the full risk assessment package, will take around 30 minutes of the client’s time.

The client experience

After using the CCF SA Plant Assessor Helpdesk, Mario McDonagh from Rhino Plant Hire in SA said that the system was easy to use and helped to save precious time.

“In a climate of ever changing legislative and site requirements CCF SA Plant Assessor Help Desk’s comprehensive risk management report is the clear standout. The system is easy to use, concise and time efficient. CCF SA Plant Assessor Help Desk ensures your equipment meets all OH&S requirements and identifies any risk management needs to maintain the highest safety standards.

“The team at Plant Assessor handled my assessment promptly and professionally. I highly recommend CCF SA Plant Assessor Help Desk and commend CCF SA for providing this service and partnering with such a professional outfit.”

Flexibility is the key

One of the strengths of the Plant Assessor system is its ability to adapt to the specific needs of individual businesses and individual fleets. For larger contractors who operate an ever-changing fleet of hire equipment or specialist tooling, having access to the information you need on-demand plays an important role in standardising processes and creating safety frameworks.

Standardisation in this manner also serves to highlight common safety and risk management issues across the fleet, which can then be flagged for the attention of supervisors and staff.

Whatever your business size, it is difficult to overlook the value of the Plant Assessor system. In terms of the safety benefits alone it is a standout product, but the additional benefits that can be gained through increased availability of equipment and reduced maintenance costs are where the actual return on investment can be found.

Having said that, what price a life ? If it saves only one person, it’s paid for itself one hundred fold.