CEA clarifies quick-hitch standards

THE Construction Equipment Association (CEA) is currently involved in the revision of the European standard covering quick couplers (EN474-1), as well as helping to develop an international safety standard (ISO 13031) for such devices, following concerns raised by the Health and Safety Executive over a number accidents and fatalities involving the use of semi-automatic quick hitches.

At the request of the HSE, new semi-automatic couplers are no longer being placed on the UK market. Instead, all new hydraulically powered couplers must now be of the automatic type where the bucket is picked up without any manual action by the operator.

However, the CEA says there has been some misunderstanding of the status of discussion in the drafting of the new standards relating to automatic couplers, with some contractors announcing their intention to ban all semi-automatic and automatic excavator quick hitches that do not lock on to both pins of the bucket.

As the standards are still under discussion, the CEA believes it is too early to say what the final outcome will be following consideration of all the arguments. However, it has confirmed that is the intention of all those involved in developing the new standards that semi-automatics will be ruled out.

A change in the European standards related to quick hitches is expected to be published towards the end of 2010, with mandatory application due to come into effect in mid-2012. Meanwhile, ISO 13031 will be worked on over the next two years and will gradually become the norm worldwide.

The CEA says it is intended that the two standards should not conflict with each other.