If you are looking for assistance with plant hire, whether you are responsible for the procurement of machinery and equipment for the energy sector, housing, construction or infrastructure, you’ll be aware that at all phases of a project there is the need for stringent regulations surrounding health and safety. Within the plant hire sector standards continue to improve all round, but with a clear eye on health and safety standards that can be passed on to customers in a way that encourages improvement in the area.
Health and safety should always be ingrained into the philosophy of any company where there is potential hazardous and dangerous work to be undertaken. If you are working with heavy machinery, uncertain terrain, at height, or moving heavy materials and loads or gases and chemicals, there is a requirement by law to stick to strict health and safety regulations. Plant hire companies that have strong reputations within the sector will take this as a bare minimum standard to reach; but will always be looking at new and innovative ways to improve health and safety in-house and at all stages of delivery to clients to ensure that no matter the sector the client is working within, the plant hire will be safe and secure to use at all times.
When working with a specialist plant hire company your health and safety standards will immediately be greater than if you owned your own machinery to use on site. This is due to the constant development and research that offers customers of the best plant hire companies the most recent and highly developed machines. Find a company that offers a large and diverse fleet to choose from, and you’ll be able to utilise the latest technology that helps your project and staff safer in the process. This could include vehicles and machinery with motion sensors and reversing cameras.
Another benefit of working with a plant hire company is that they will put all plant and equipment through a rigorous testing phase before it is sent out to site for customers use. This ensures that everything is in good working order, and up to the strict HSE standards that are specific to each sector. Make sure that you also receive all relevant documentation from your plant hire company as proof that this testing phase has taken place. They should also provide you with an audit trail that provides proof that your staff are safe to use anything delivered by your plant hire company.
Add to these factors, an exhaustive training programme that delivers on-site training to your staff, and brochures and information about how to safely use all machinery that you hire and you’ll have found yourself one of the best plant hire companies in the sector. Be sure to tick all of these factors off before committing to a contract with a company, as you need to ensure that everything works to not only complete the tasks at hand on your specific project, but that they also adhere to strict health and safety regulations.