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Quick coupler

Tool used to quickly move buckets

The causes of the fatal accidents are not always the same and the views of safety authorities in different countries differ on how to reduce risk. In the UK the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) analysed the accident data and concluded that all of the known fatalities were caused by the operator not inserting the safety pin in semi-automatic couplers. Even without the safety pin inserted the buckets would not have been released unless there had been a failure of some part of the mechanism, or some error in operation by the operator. The HSE concluded that the most effective way to reduce the risk of further accidents was for semi-automatic couplers to be withdrawn from sale. The suppliers of these couplers agreed to this voluntarily so semi-automatic couplers were withdrawn from sale in the UK by around October 2008. Safety authorities in other countries have taken a different approach. In Australia the authorities took the view that the problems were caused by designs of quick couplers that did not incorporate a safety pin. That is, they believe that semi-automatics are fundamentally safe. The Australian standard for quick couplers published by Standards Australia, AS 4774 - 2008 therefore does not exclude this design option. It is therefore obvious that the views of the safety authorities of the UK and Australia on what constitutes a safe design are very divergent. In the UK some major construction contractors have written their own specifications for quick couplers allowed on sites under their control. That is, they have pursued site safety via a procurement policy. An alternative approach has been put forward by the Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group. A working party under this group has drawn up a best practice guide that has been endorsed, inter alia, by the HSE. This provides an alternative route to site safety: adhering to best practice in the use of quick couplers.

Market

The market for quick couplers is mainly supplied by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. Many of the manufacturers of quick couplers are small, flexible and innovative, leading to the wide variation in design concepts. Many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of construction equipment market a range of quick couplers. Some of these are designed and manufactured by the OEM but more often they are the products of one of the quick coupler manufacturers branded by the OEM and sold through the OEM's distribution chain or installed by the OEM in their factory. In addition to the supply route from the OEMs many distributors of construction machinery will install quick couplers onto machines before delivery at the request of a customer. Quick coupler manufacturers will also sell direct to end-users and usually complete the installation as part of the sale.

Development of international safety standards

A European standard in place since 1996 gives some guidance on the safety of quick couplers (EN474-1). However, this standard is unclear in many aspects leading to uncertainty as to whether semi-automatic couplers comply with it or not. Because of this the UK government launched a "safeguard action" under the Machinery Safety Directive (98/37/EC) challenging the validity of the standard and demanding that it be improved. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) have therefore undertaken to revise the relevant section of the standard. Because of the divergence in design concepts and in opinions on how to manage the associated risks the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has undertaken to draft an International Standard on the safety of quick couplers. This project is being undertaken by Technical Committee 127 (ISO TC/127). A Working Group was set up to draft the standard, which will be reviewed internationally through normal ISO procedures and will be published as ISO 13031 . This work will probably be completed in 2013. The intention in Europe is that, subject to the standard being suitable, the ISO standard would then be adopted as the standard for Europe.

References

(2012-03-22). "Teenager killed by falling excavator bucket". ABC News.

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