Régis Marzin, EN 15000 Project Manager, gives an interview to present the work carried out by Manitou's Studies and Development team on this standard.
What is the EN 15000 standard and why was it put in place?
RM: Initially, so-called “safety” standards are intended to protect users’ health and improve their safety. We tend to consider them as restrictive, but at the end of the day they are there first and foremost to protect our customers.
For EN 15000, to cut a long story short, it involves preventing telescopic trucks from tipping forward because of the load it is carrying, when the boom is fully or partially deployed and when lowering or deploying the telescope. They are therefore intended to improve the longitudinal stability of trucks which carry out load positioning operations when stopped. We call this "disconnecting hazardous movements".
The standard came into effect on 1st October 2010 and relates to all telescopic truck models produced by Manitou and sold in Europe. Only the models that meet the EN 15000 standard will receive CE marking.
What has Manitou’s response been to this European request?
RM: As the EN 15000 scope was restricted to machines which had stopped moving and did not cover all the longitudinal tipping risks for trucks, we decided to look at all these risks according to the multiple applications offered by a telescopic truck.
This risk analysis led us to create 3 different operating modes guaranteeing users the maximum levels of productivity and comfort according to their application:
- We have developed a default “standard mode” (conforms 100% to the scope covered by EN 15000) for load positioning with trucks stopped. It is a regulated and progressive boom lowering system, whose speed is adapted according to the load that is handled. On the one hand, it shows the operator that the boom’s deployment and lowering limit has been reached in relation to the load and on the other it cuts off any hazardous movements by the machine to avoid any tipping.
- To prevent any dynamic risks that aren’t covered by EN 15000, we have provided a “bucket” mode, which is adapted to picking up loose materials. This mode releases the platform tilting movements and the auxiliary line, enabling the operator to carry out all their loading operations in complete safety. The “bucket” mode is available on all Manitou telescopic trucks with a height less than or equal to 10 metres. In other words, those trucks that are likely to carry out pick-up and loading work. The bucket can still be used on machines taller than 10 metres, in standard mode only.
- As for the “suspended load” mode (safety mode adapted to the use of the lifting hook, jib or winch), this corresponds to “standard” mode with an additional safety margin of 10% which takes account of the dynamic effects of the suspended load. In this mode, the platform tilting is locked for more safety.
To avoid immobilising the telescopic truck, in each operating mode it is possible to circumvent the hazardous movement disconnection by holding down a special switch, as stipulated in the standard.
MT 625 super-compact telescopic truck
