Safety Protocols For Dump Truck Operations

Dump truck safety must be a top priority when operating your trucks in the Midwest. While dump trucks can be great in assisting you in the work you are trying to accomplish, we at Side Dump Industries stress the importance of safe dumping procedures in order to ensure you get your job done without serious injury. There are some crucial items of action to look out for when loading and unloading a dump truck, and we will cover some basics below to ensure you are operating in a safe manner. 

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Load Securement and Stability

One of the first major points of emphasis when discussing safe dumping procedures is ensuring whatever you are loading is loaded evenly into the dump truck. Loading your heavy materials on either end of the truck can result in truck tipping, structural weakness, and an inability to properly transport the materials you have loaded onto the truck. Driving a dump truck with an unevenly loaded bed can cause instability and can lead to accidents and other safety events. It is important loading is done in a concise and even manner for maximum safety and efficiency when using the truck. Using a tarp system is another great tool to use to ensure materials stay in place during transport.

It is also important to park the truck on stable ground when loading and unloading; parking the truck on unstable ground that is not flat can lead to the truck sliding or tipping over when being loaded. You will want to load your dump truck in a side-to-side motion to ensure the materials are laid into the truck evenly. Additionally, ensuring you do not exceed the weight capacity for the trailer of your truck is vital to dump truck safety. Lastly, ensuring your unloading zone is clear and safe for dumping is essential to finishing up your job.

Driver Training and Certification

All drivers of dump trucks will need a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) in order to operate a dump truck in accordance with the law. This license is required for vehicles such as dump trucks. The specific license needed for a dump truck specifically is the Class B CDL, but is important to check with local laws and your prospective employer on requirements. An OSHA Safety Certificate is often required by dump truck driver employers, as this extra layer of training provides a framework of dump truck safety for the employers operating them. Finally, an EPA Amusement Operators Safety Certification (EPA) could be required by some employers to round out any extensive dump truck safety training requirements. 

Emergency Response Plans

Emergency response plans for dump trucks pertain to personnel injury, safety hazards encountered on the job, and also environmental hazards such as a spill of a toxic substance. These response plans must be devised by the company utilizing and operating the dump truck and employing their workers to use them. OSHA will often dictate the necessity and extent of these types of plans, so it is important that business owners operating dump trucks understand local operating laws and have plans in place in case of any unfortunate accidents or emergencies. 

Safety Inspections and Audits

Dump truck safety inspections are often done at a state level, whereas you must follow both state and federal law. Depending on the type of work your company does with your dump trucks, the standards and rate of inspections may vary. In many states, commercially operated vehicles using state-run highways must be inspected annually if their business is interstate. If their business is intrastate, then the requirement is to be inspected every 6 months. Commercial diesel vehicles are also subject to the Diesel Emission Inspection Program as well. 

When it comes to dump truck safety audits, these audits will ensure the vehicle is working in a safe and operable condition and ensure a double check that the vehicle can be used without risk to the employee operating it. These inspections will look at many facets of the dump truck and should be conducted regularly to reduce risk and offer a safe working vehicle for employee use. Safety audits are integral to commercial dump truck companies and provide a measure of defense against unexpected accidents.

Dump Truck Safety Is Key

At Side Dump Industries, we have designed our trailers for easy use that also have loading and unloading safety in mind. It is important to understand all safety protocols when operating a dump truck, as these vehicles can have safety risks if not used and maintained properly. Working with your team to ensure all users of the dump trucks you operate are properly trained and knowledgeable of these safety protocols is vital to employee safety and workflow efficiency. 
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