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Safe Operation of Your Excavator

Nov. 9 2020 Ownership Tips By FMI Equipment

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Your excavator is designed with special safety features to help prevent an accident or injury from occurring. However, that doesn’t mean that you can lay down on the job when it comes to safety! Following essential protocols around your excavator is necessary to keep everyone at the site safe and to prevent damage to other pieces of equipment or structures.

FMI Equipment in Spokane Valley is your eastern Washington excavator dealership. Read on to learn how to keep yourself and your employees safe when operating your excavator at your worksite. 

1. Perform Regular Inspections

Before you ever turn on your excavator, you should always perform a regular inspection of your machine. Check your machine over after using it as well to make sure nothing was damaged during usage.

  • Examine controls to make sure they function properly, along with lights and signals.
  • Look over the tracks.
  • Clean mirrors and adjust for the operator.
  • Check the propel system.

You should also look over the actual construction site as well to remove obstacles that might obstruct or damage your excavator, like tree stumps, rocks and materials. Check for holes and ditches or inclines that you should be aware of when using the excavator. Call the utility district to get markers for underground pipes and electrical lines.

2. Prioritize the Operator

The operator of the excavator needs to be as safe as possible. They should wear a seatbelt before starting the machine and during its usage. Never have a second person in the excavator cab, as it’s only intended for one worker at a time. Use a reliable communication system between the operator and the crew, too.

3. Protect Your Crew

A worksite is an extremely busy place with a lot of people milling about and machines in use. Excavator operators should endeavor to keep those people safe and prevent damage to those machines. The operator should maintain a slow speed when on a busy site and keep the bucket low while the excavator moves to increase stability and visibility.

The ground crew needs to maintain distance from the excavator while it’s in operation. No one should ever stand underneath the bucket, particularly while it’s loaded up with loose material. Never let anyone ride in the bucket or hang off the arm of the machine. Light up your worksite with bright lights if work must continue after dark.

4. Be Cautious on Slopes

When operating your excavator on a slope, try to keep the tracks from being parallel to the slope, since this can cause the machine to tip over. Travel vertically instead of diagonally when going up a slope while keeping the boom and arm extended with the bucket lowered. You can drop the bucket in case you need to stop your excavator from sliding if it starts to do so. Go at a slow and steady speed on slopes and don’t take sharp turns if you can avoid them. As you go down a slope, keep your bucket bottom low and parallel to the ground.

5. Additional Tips

  • Fill up the fuel tank completely before you start your task so that you don’t drop the bucket or an arm when the fuel runs out.
  • Check your engine and hydraulic fluid levels and top them off as needed.
  • Work with your propel motors towards the rear of the machine to improve stability.
  • Keep tracks at a 90° angle when back-filling a cave-in.
  • Dump spoil piles away from the area to prevent cave-ins.
  • Make sure the excavator is level before digging a trench to prevent cave-ins.
  • Check attachments for compatibility with your particular make and model before use.

Following these tips should help you to keep your worksite safer. Seeking an excavator for sale in Spokane, WA? Peruse our website to take a look at our vast selection of new and used excavators for sale. We also offer rental equipment as well as financing options to help you fund your purchase. FMI Equipment proudly serves greater Spokane, WA, as well as Coeur d’Alene, ID.