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CROSSHIRE: THE SILLY SEASON The silly season appears to have arrived early. We have already had more than a few optimists wanting to attack gardens resembling boulder strewn African scrubland with our 4hp cultivators, requests for stepladders to sit on top of our towers to extend the working height, and one complete bozo who spent days pumping out his swimming pool with a small electric pressure washer after twice refusing advice that a submersible pump was a better option. Inappropriate equipment selection has great potential for mishap. Most casual users seek advice and I hope we are all astute enough to spot customers requesting unsuitable items. But people confidently making specific requests, or taking offence when hire staff query their judgement, can mean trouble. Our new employee, Samantha, attended a reported ‘breakdown’ the other day and found the skid steer loader, which our client described as having “clapped out”, had in fact run out of fuel. He was annoyed because he thought that the tank should hold enough to do all his jobs, however long it took, and he would not pay for the callout or the extra fuel. Sam took this in her stride and when the machine was refuelled and running she waited to check all was well. Our client started work, with his young son driving the skid steer whilst he was carried up in the air in the bucket with a chainsaw to lop some tree branches! Sam decided to take action and when the bucket was next lowered to the ground she confiscated the ignition keys and came back to base. Rocket Raymond was despatched to collect the machine and had a ten-pound argument with Mr Angry, who at first would not allow him on his land to collect the equipment. It is not the first time we have acted to protect customers from their own stupidity. I subsequently learned that our customer was of that large class of ‘professionals’ who are highly educated but have no common sense. He knew all his ‘rights’ but could not accept that, once we knew he was using our kit in a foolhardy manner, we had a duty to protect him and his son. It is not just Joe Public who runs this sort of risk. Indeed, most machine damage comes from small business users who habitually specify the incorrect machine because it is cheaper, or who employ untrained operators. Two serious points arise. The first is that, as we know all self-propelled equipment should only be operated by a competent person in a working environment, how can we justify supplying such kit when we are virtually certain they are far from suitably qualified? No amount of fudging the issue by saying we gave a demonstration on handover, or “the instructions were definitely there, your honour” will mitigate the fact that it may be considered reckless to supply complex machinery under such circumstances. Our industry needs clear direction. If the Government has decreed through HSE that operators must be trained for work site use, then it should not ultimately be left to individual hire companies to assess the risk. The second point is whether under the existing HAE and CPA conditions of hire we have the right to terminate a hire if we believe on-going use might endanger life and then enter private property to recover it. I believe the existing ‘snatch back’ clauses from both these bodies centre on breach of contract for non-payment. If the owner of the kit truly believes mayhem might result if the client continues to use it, we should be able to enforce immediate termination of hire for that reason alone, and be allowed to recover our property. In
such
circumstances,
time
is
critical
so
there
is
little
use
in
clauses
that
rely
on
notification
in
writing
or
specify
a
timescale.
If
we
come
across
a
dangerous
situation,
we
should
be
able
to
react
without
delay.
If
there
are
some
highly
qualified
professionals
out
there
who
actually
do
have
some
common
sense,
perhaps
they
might
wish
to
comment
Executive Hire News › Archives › July 2007 › Crosshire › The Silly Season
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