Three-Point Contact System for Safety

When you and your employees are in the thick of a project, it’s easy to slip into habits that may not be the safest. Distractions on the job, deadline pressures, and complacency can lead the mind to wander. While seemingly innocuous, distractions like these can have dangerous, even deadly, consequences.

The most dangerous time is when mounting or dismounting equipment like ladders, truck cabs, and other large machinery. It’s easy to imagine, as most of us enter and exit vehicles throughout our daily lives. Extending that muscle memory to work equipment is second nature. In reality, more than a quarter of injuries in and around equipment and trucks happening when mounting or dismounting.

However, one simple trick can lead to safer work with equipment and reduce the risk of falls and injury. The most effective way to safely mount and dismount work equipment and vehicles is by utilizing the three-point contact rule.

The three-point contact safety rule is simple – maintain three points of contact when climbing into or out of any equipment, vehicles, trucks, ladders, or other spaces, in the workplace. This can be a one-foot, two-hands combination, or a one-hand, two—feet combination, just making sure there are three points of contact on the vehicle or equipment at any given time.

Broadly applicable, making these simple changes can revolutionize the safety game of your teams. It’s easy to remember, easy to enact, and can be practiced at work and at home.

How can something so simple be so effective? Well, maintaining these points of contact provides multiple safeguards:

• It provides stability
• It distributes your weight more evenly
• Maintains your center of gravity

Without any of these, it’s easy to fall when climbing into and out of equipment.  Thinking about these things ahead of time and training can help your employees subconsciously make their job sites safer.

Ensuring your employees are safe on the job site makes sure you can remain fully staffed, and not experience interruptions in your projects. What else can your employees do to make mounting and dismounting equipment safer? Try these tips and tricks:

Ladders

• Ask yourself what kind of rungs or steps does it have, what’s the condition of the ladder, how tall or how high am I going
• Always face the ladder
• Take sure, confident steps

Truck Cabs

• Always face the cab, when mounting and dismounting

General tips

• Firmly grip handholds
• Wear good footwear
• Don’t carry a lot or carry heavy tools, when entering and exiting equipment or cabs
• Pay attention to your surroundings
• Ask yourself, what is the landing, what is the weather, are the steps slick, has the equipment been outside in inclement weather that could impact the stability of mounting or dismounting

At the end of the day, accidents happen. That’s why businesses choose to have Hastings Commercial insurance and Workers’ Compensation policies. Our policies are comprehensive and cover your business, your people, and make sure you keep moving. With our extensive Loss Control services, you can learn other ways to keep your business safe. If an employee is hurt on the job, our FristCall MedCor services help triage injuries and help get your team members the help they need and get them healthy.

Always make sure you have a plan for injuries on the worksite, starting with the most basic tasks. The three-point contact system is a great place to start. Introduce this safety rule to your employees and train them today, to prevent accidents tomorrow. Remember, the three-point contact rule is three points of contact when mounting and dismounting equipment. Two-feet and a hand, or two-hands and a foot is the golden rule!

Use this guide to help you plan, provide, and train. By doing these three simple things, you can avoid and prevent falls, before they have the opportunity to happen.