Would you allow the people that assembled your vehicle's brake pads to also install them?

Case in point: 

A technician trained to construct hydraulic hose assemblies received a work order from his supervisor to construct two hose assemblies, deliver them to a customer, and install them on the customer’s front-end loader. In addition to replacing the two defective hydraulic hoses his work order also included the repair of a leaking connector on the loader.

Bear in mind, the hose assembly technician had no training in either hydraulic safety, or fundamental hydraulics.

On arrival at the client’s premises to perform the repairs, he started by replacing the two defective hydraulic hose assemblies. He then turned his attention to the task of repairing the leaking connector, which was concealed by the bucket’s lift arm assembly. He asked a yard worker to raise the bucket in the air, so that he could gain access to the leaking connector.

Figure 1. Bucket had to be raised to access fitting

Neither he, nor the yard worker, was aware that the front-end loader had a locking device, which needed to be installed before performing work beneath the raised bucket. Consequently, this life-saving device was not installed. The leaking fitting was located on the left-hand side of the frame. It consisted of a steel transmission line with a flexible transmission line coupled to it. The technician began to loosen the connector. In the meantime, the yard worker stood beneath the bucket to observe what he was doing. Little did the technician know that the connector he was loosening contained oil that linked the dual cylinders to the loader’s directional control valve.

Figure 2. Lift cylinders are connected in parallel.

After a few turns of the swivel connector an explosion occurred when the high-pressure tore the last few threads off the connector releasing the stored hydraulic energy into the atmosphere. The entire lift arm of the front-end loader and the bucket assembly collapsed on top of the yard worker.  

The oil discharging from the open connection pummeled his body. In the aftermath he explained: “The oil blasted me in my face. It felt like a train hit me.” He subsequently crawled out from beneath the loader exiting behind the front tire. He walked around to the front of the loader, and found that the 24-year old yard worker had not been so lucky. He was pinned underneath the giant bucket. He died before the emergency responders arrived.

Let’s summarize:

• A hose assembly technician was tasked to install hydraulic hoses, and repair a leaking fitting, which were located in a hydraulic system, which he apparently knew absolutely nothing about.
• For something as simple as a defective O-ring seal the technician narrowly escaped a crushing death, while, as a result of his ignorance, a 24-year old yard worker was killed.
• The OSHA report opined that the hose technician was “not certified to perform the work, but that no training was necessary for this work.”

Welcome to the wonderful world of hydraulics. It doesn’t matter how complex the hydraulic system, its magnitude, whether it’s on an aerial platform, scissor lift, a giant mobile crane, or an amusement park ride, the vast majority of people that work on and around hydraulic systems know as little about hydraulic systems as the hose technician. Ironically, the concluding statements in almost every report related to hydraulic safety are the same: “the person that performed the work was not certified, but no certification is necessary to perform the work.”

It’s laughable: in most states, a beautician cannot do a pedicure if he/she is not licensed and certified by the state, yet an untrained person can work on any type of hydraulic system without any training at all.

Here’s the takeaway from yet another preventable death related to hydraulics:

1. Be aware that not a single safety standard exists for the task of making high-pressure hose assemblies; bear in mind that many hose-assemblies operate at pressures approaching 10,000 PSI (690 bar); even sub-standard assemblies have resulted in debilitating injuries, an untold number of fatalities, and significant property damage. Most cases are due to fires.
2. Ironically, OSHA investigates most injury and death related accidents, yet there is overwhelming evidence that the organization that exists for the purpose of protecting American workers does absolutely nothing to stop the carnage that robs families of their loved ones.  Nobody cares – not OSHA, not MSHA, not NIOSH, not NFPA, not corporate safety professionals – nobody!
3. The fluid power industry is the only industry that escapes the scrutiny of OSHA, MSHA, and every other state and federal safety agency.
4. Profit, not safety, is the fluid power industry’s primary objective. The industry makes billions of dollars in profit thanks, in part, to OSHA and MSHA. Without having to invest heavily in costs related to safe hydraulic system design and training, companies redirect those costs to corporate profits and bonuses. It’s a win-win situation for an industry that looks the other way when it comes to worker safety.
5. The hose and connector industry is just another branch of an industry where profit transcends safety. Here are a few quotes from the managers of hose and connector companies I have personally questioned about the lack of employee training:
   
   - “People that make hose assemblies are 'grunts.' They don’t need any training to perform such simple tasks.”
   - “If we train them they will leave.
   - “The cost of training our workers will have a negative impact on my bonus.
   - “We are too busy to cut people loose for training.”
   - “Show me a standard that requires me to train my workers.”
   - “Why do they need training beyond the task of making hose assemblies?”
   
   Need I go on? The hose and connector industry is living proof of what happens when an industry answers only to itself.
   
   
6. Less than 1% of the high-pressure hose assemblies made in America are tested before being shipped to the client.
7. Less than 5% of the people that make hose assemblies have received formal training in how to make hose assemblies. According to the vast majority of people that work in the industry, their training consisted of a quick lesson from a co-worker (usually untrained), and the rest was left to "on the job, learn-by-observation" training from that point forward.
8. Less than 1% of the people that make hydraulic hose assemblies have received formal training in fundamental hydraulics. Ironically, the vast majority of these untrained people offer technical advice to clients, either by phone or at the will-call counter.




Case in point: 
A construction company employed mechanic stopped by a local hydraulic hose and coupling business to have them duplicate a damaged hose assembly which he had removed from a machine. He handed the hose assembly to the technician who disappeared into the warehouse. Upon his return a few minutes later, he advised the customer that the store was out of stock of SAE100R2, which was the direct replacement for the sample hose. The hoses technician then proceeded to ask the mechanic if he knew what pressure the hydraulic system’s pressure relief valve was set at. The mechanic apparently replied that, to the best of his recollection, the setting was 2000-PSI. The hose technician advised him that if the system’s pressure relief valve setting is indeed 2000-PSI, he could substitute the SAE100R2 hose for SAE100R1; a hose with a lower pressure rating. The mechanic obviously trusted that the hose technician knew what he was talking about and gave him the go-ahead to change the specification of this critical component. A short while later the mechanic left the store, new hose assembly in hand.


Upon his arrival at work, he installed the new hose assembly, and handed the machine back to the operator. Shortly after the machine was put back into service, the new hydraulic hose assembly burst.


It is apparent that nothing was done to determine the root cause of the failure because the mechanic returned to the store with the defective hose assembly. The hose assembly technician opined that he may have made an error while assembling the hose (hence the need for testing), and he promptly constructed a new hose assembly with the same SAE100R1 hose. Needless to say, it too burst shortly after the machine was returned to service.


With two burst hoses, the construction company mechanic asked the manufacturer of the hydraulic hose to intervene. The hose manufacturer determined that the design of the machine’s hydraulic system was such that this particular hydraulic hose had to be rated for a higher pressure. Hence, the SAE100R2 was the correct hose to begin with.
Had the hose assembly technician undergone training in fundamental hydraulics, he would have, in all likelihood, learned that a double acting, single rod cylinder can, under certain conditions, amplify pressure (see illustration)













8. Less than 1% of companies that engage in “near-miss” reporting, ask workers to file a near-miss report when a hydraulic hose assembly unexpectedly fails.
9.    To add insult to injury, untrained hose assembly technicians buy whatever the boss tells them regarding the type of equipment they need with which to make hose assemblies. For example, it is commonplace to find technicians cutting hydraulic hoses with “chop-off” saws fitted with aluminum oxide cutting wheels, which are designed for grinding steel and steel alloys. These types of saws should never be used to cut hydraulic hoses. The debris left in the hoses cause or contribute to accelerated hydraulic component wear, which is seldom, if ever, traced back to the hose supplier.
10.  Hydraulic hose and coupling companies are duty-bound to pay  attention to how hose assemblies are constructed, to ensure    they are tested for safety and thoroughly cleaned.
11.Contamination is the leading cause of hydraulic component failure. Contamination, which is routinely left in hydraulic hose assemblies, can lead to systemic failure, which can cause accidents, loss of production, and exorbitant repair costs.
12.Before you ride an aerial platform, scissor lift, bucket truck, or amusement park ride, consider the fact that it is highly likely that an untrained, or poorly trained, technician not only constructed the hose assembly, but also installed it.
13.While hydraulic hose and coupling manufacturers provide strong warnings to dealers about “cross-matching” hoses and couplings, dealers routinely ignore the warnings because they opt for the more profitable alternative.


Since the fluid power industry is more than happy with the status quo, and, there is overwhelming evidence that OSHA and MSHA have absolutely no interest in fixing the problem, I am going to give you some very important advice as to how you can avoid becoming a victim of an accident related to sub-standard hydraulic hose assemblies:


1.    If you work for a hose and coupling dealer, or if you work for a company that makes hose assemblies in-house, and you have had no formal training in making hose assemblies, or have only been exposed to training in fundamental hydraulics, you should inform your supervisor immediately. If your supervisor ignores you, take the matter to your company’s safety department. If your requests for proper training are still ignored it is imperative that make a note of the date of your request(s), your supervisor’s name, and the outcome of your request for training. This information will serve you well should a hose assembly you make fail unexpectedly, and cause an accident. Your supervisor will have to convince a jury of his or her peers, why the training was declined.
2.    Hose and coupling dealers MUST NEVER make hose and/or connector substitutions without the written permission from the original equipment manufacturer. In other words, never take the engineer out of the loop.
3.    If you hire an outside hose and connector contractor to perform work on your hydraulic equipment, make it a condition of contract that the technician assigned to the task brings his/her certificate(s) of training with them. If the technician does not have a certificate of training in fundamental hydraulics, DO NOT allow that person to work on your equipment. You are responsible for their safety while they are working on your premises.
4. The same applies to companies that provide on-site hose replacement services. Unless their technicians have certificates to prove that they have received the proper training, don’t let them go anywhere near your machinery or equipment.
5.    I highly recommend that you refrain from doing business with a hose and connector dealer until you tour their facility, and get to know the qualifications of their technicians. Inspect the facility for cleanliness. Also inspect the crimping machines and cut-off saws. Note how the hoses are stored. Ask what they use to clean the finished assemblies, and ask if the assemblies are tested.
You must put them on notice that if a hose assembly they fabricate fails after installation, the incident will be handled internally as an accident, which, of course, it is. Have a third party analyze the failure so that the root cause is not swept under the mat.
6.   If you rent a scissor lift, bucket truck, aerial platform, etc., have the rental company sign a contract stating that all hydraulic hose assemblies on the equipment you are renting have been constructed by people that are trained and certified in making hose assemblies. The vast majority of mechanics that repair, service, and maintain personnel lifting devices, amusement park rides, and cranes, have no formal training in fluid power.


Help is available:
Since the fluid power industry on its own is impotent when it comes to elevating safety in the industry, you can turn to the Fluid Power Academy for help; here’s how:
1.    If your company is hiring a technician that is going to work on your company’s hydraulic systems, and you want to determine the person’s competency in hydraulics, have him/her take FPA’s competency test - 
    www.fluidpoweracademy.com
2. If your company rents aerial platforms, scissor lifts, bucket trucks, cranes, etc., and you want to determine if the hydraulic systems on the machines are serviced, repaired and maintained by competent personnel, make it a rule to have the person that performed work on the machine, and signed off on the machine, take FPA’s competency test.
3.  If you are an attorney, and you are taking the depositions of personnel that worked on a vehicle that was involved in an accident, have the personnel take FPA’s competency test. It will erase all doubt about the person’s knowledge, or lack thereof, of hydraulics.
4. If you are a student that is studying hydraulics, or has graduated from a hydraulic program, and you want to measure how good or bad your training is/was, take FPA’s competency test.


NOTE: With the exception of college students, there is a charge for the test.


Technical Schools and Colleges:


Technical schools and colleges hold the key to solving this serious problem. I strongly encourage technical schools and colleges to offer courses in hose and coupling safety, how to identify connectors, and how to make hydraulic hoses assemblies. There is almost no doubt that students graduating from an ag or a construction equipment course will be expected to construct hoses assemblies. If you need help, please let me know.

You're safer, by far, sitting in a barber's chair than you are riding in an aerial platform

It's hard to imagine that the aerial platform industry has developed a machine that will take workers up to a dizzying height of approximately 300 feet. Its harder to imagine that the vast majority of people that work on the complex hydraulic systems on these machines have little, or no, training. Ironically, the barber that cuts hair, and the beautician that gives pedicures, is required by state law to receive a pre-determined number of hours of classroom training, pass written and practical tests, and receive state licenses before they can take a pair of scissors to your hair, or a clipper to your fingernails. However, the people that service, repair, and overhaul aerial platforms, are not required to attend classes, pass tests, or receive any type of certification, even though the smallest error in workmanship can cause widespread death and destruction. Imagine if one should collapse over a busy freeway, or perhaps over a school!

There is one small consolation, OSHA does require operators of these tethered flying machines to receive some sort of training. 

It is obvious that substandard workmanship performed by untrained workers has not resulted in enough death and destruction to warrant any type of action by OSHA. Perhaps things will change when poor workmanship causes a failure that brings one of these machines down on top of a school bus full of children. One can only hope and pray that this does not happen.       

I share because I care.