What Are the Dangers of Using a Skid Steer Loader?
- Skid steers have short wheelbases. They are not very wide or tall, and they are meant to operate on uneven ground. They are designed with a relatively low center of gravity to stabilize them, but there is still an inherent danger of skid steers rolling over. This is an extremely dangerous event, in spite of seatbelts and safety cages.
- A skid steer's wheels or tracks, as well as the hydraulic arms and loader-bucket, are exposed. Other machinery may have guards to keep a person from falling into dangerous moving parts or wheels, but skid steers primarily rely on people to stand clear of them. While in operation, the skid steer loader's bucket, armature and hydraulic parts are particularly dangerous. Their movement is easily powerful enough to sever or badly break a limb, or cause other fatal injuries.
- The nature of skid steer loaders is to work in construction sites where other construction workers and supervisors are present. It may be more clear for bystanders to predict or anticipate the movements of automobiles. But, on a construction site, the intent of an operator is almost impossible to predict. There are no clear paths or rules to follow. And bystanders may not be familiar with the dangers of the equipment. So, the onus must fall to the operator and construction supervisors to make sure there is not dangerous proximity of the skid steer and bystanders.
- Gravity is another danger intrinsic to construction sites. Much of construction involves lifting and moving heavy objects, often on uneven terrain. There is also time pressure to stay on schedule and on budget; stopping one task may stop the progress of an entire crew of workers. This pressure may increase the impulse of a laborer to reach into the moving parts of a skid steer loader, to try to balance something, or simply to get too close. It's critically important to remember that you might not be able to react fast enough to get out of the way of a skid steer loader or one of its moving parts or a piece of material that falls from it. Gravity is faster than we are. Do not put your body in harm's way, even just for a second.
