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WOOD WORK

I applaud Michael Offiler’s sentiments (CM, Dec 2021, Trolley Jack Blocking Tool) to make working under a car safer. But as a Wood Scientist, qualified timber strength grader (licence lapsed), being formally trained in product risk assessment and having a working knowledge of LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations), I cannot agree with his article, “Trolley Jack Blocking Tool”.

1. Accidents

The Governments LASS & HASS data (Home/Leisure Accident Surveillance System in hospitals from 1978 to 2002) includes 1408 accidents involving jacks in 1998 and 1459 in 2000. Plus the USA’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) lists thousands of jack-related accidents.

The HSE advice on working under vehicles includes, “...serious and fatal accidents happen every year even though the dangers and precautions are well-known”, and includes the advice, ”do not rely on jacks alone“.

2. Product Safety, Design & Manufacture

Any product used incorrectly can pose a health risk. A car jack is a safety critical piece of equipment used to support the potentially lethal weight of a car. Companies will design, engineer, test and manufacture jacks using standards and known types of loads and stresses on the components. Introducing an additional structural support will affect the design forces and their distribution so modifying a jack or any piece of lifting equipment in a safety critical situation is an error.

Some years ago