"Mobile equipment still equates to a disproportionately high number of injuries," says Miles Dobson, Head of Manufacturing for Lafarge Aggregates UK, who is responsible for specifying machine requirements in Britain. With a worldwide fleet of circa 6,000 machines, the company is leading the field when it comes to developing machine-related safety features.

Over 70% of the UK's articulated hauler and wheeled loader fleets are made up of Volvos, the latter ranging from Volvo's L90F to the L220F. "To eliminate blind spots each loader is specified with convex mirrors, reversing alarms, and rear cameras," says Miles. "F-Series wheel loaders are also now being specified with Care track GPS monitoring - and from 2009 they will also be fitted with rear passive radar systems. We want our people to be safe wherever in the world they are."

Mobile equipment presents a significant risk, operators need to have all round visibility and be able to gain access to their machines safely." says Geraint. "But the additional expense is minimal in relation to the overall cost of a machine. Operators appreciate the investment in their safety and take greater care of machines that they are proud to operate.

This teamwork has lead to innovations such as the development of powered access and walkway systems for small excavators in the 20 ton class. But providing safe machines is not going to stop accidents on its own. "The majority of incidents are caused by people's behavior - not the machines," states Miles. "So we need to convince our people to modify their behavior to adapt to the situation they are in. You can fit mirrors, but for them to be effective you have to convince operators of the need to use them."

"It's mostly about changing patterns of behavior," continues Geraint. "A lot of incidents are down to momentary lapses of concentration or rushing to get things done. We need to create a culture that leaves sufficient time to complete the job properly while maintaining focus and being efficient. It's our job to make it easier to do the Right Thing."