Opencast mining and quarrying operations usually involve lots of large vehicles moving around. The drivers of these vehicles often have restricted visibility due to their high driving positions, so it’s important that smaller cars and vans are made as visible as possible in order to avoid accidents.
The Health and Safety Executive’s Target Zero initiative for the industry has the aim to reduce the number of accidents and is a key factor here, as employers need to be committed to creating healthier and safer workplaces. This means ensuring that vehicles can enter sites safely and that involves making certain that they are as visible as possible to drivers of larger machinery while they are there.
Increasing visibility
One of the easiest and most effective ways in which smaller vehicles can be made more visible is with the use of flags that can be attached so that they stand well above the roof of the vehicle.
These buggy whips, from suppliers such as https://wisuk.co.uk/buggy-whip, are designed to be attached to the bonnet or roof of a vehicle so that the flags are clearly visible to drivers of trucks or excavators, even when they may not be able to see the vehicle itself.
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Key features
In order to be effective, it’s important that these flags are made of material that is durable and visible. They need to be brightly coloured in order to stand out against a variety of backgrounds. Ideally, they should include reflective material as well, so that they are made visible in low light conditions, when headlights or work lights are in use, as well as in daylight.
The base mounts for these flags are usually of a magnetic design and built so that they can be quickly and easily attached to any available flat surface on the vehicle. They usually have a swivel mount on the base too, so they can be used either on a roof or bonnet for example or on a side panel.
The length of the whip itself is important too, as it must be long enough to ensure that it is plainly visible well above the vehicle itself. Typically, this means a length of 60 inches or more, in order to make certain that the flag can be clearly seen.