End of Shift, Rain, and a Dripping Fuel Hose
It is the end of the shift and raining. You are responsible for a 9-tonne dumper. The yard slopes gently towards a surface water drain, and you must refuel from a mobile bowser before parking. The bowser's drip tray is missing and the spill kit in the store is empty - you can see the empty plastic wrapper in the bin. The fuel hose coupling is worn and drips when connected. Last week a small diesel spill in the same yard was hosed into the drain. The machine key is normally left in the cab, and the site is fenced but the gate padlock is broken.
1. Walk through how you would refuel, given the missing drip tray, the empty spill kit and the worn coupling.
Read the worked answer
You do not refuel until you can control a spill. The equipment shortfall is the first thing to report.
Before connecting:
- Stop the engine; no smoking, no naked flames, no mobile phone use, nothing that can ignite vapour.
- Position so a spill would run onto sealed ground away from the drain, not towards it.
- Put a drip tray or absorbent sheet under the coupling. If there is no drip tray, a spill kit with absorbent granules is the minimum substitute - and there is none, so the task waits.
- Check the hose and coupling; a dripping coupling means the connection is not sound. Report the worn coupling and get it replaced.
During:
- Fill carefully, watching the nozzle, not overfilling, keeping the hose off the ground.
- Catch drips; wipe up immediately and put contaminated absorbent in the correct waste container, not the general bin.
After:
- Disconnect, replace caps, check for drips around the machine, and record the missing drip tray, empty spill kit and faulty coupling so they are replaced rather than borrowed around again.
2. How do you park and secure the machine at the end of the shift?
Read the worked answer
Park it so it cannot move, cannot be started by someone else, and cannot spill into the drain.
- Choose firm, level ground away from the drain and out of traffic routes. The yard slopes towards the drain, so pick the flattest spot available.
- Lower the skip fully. A raised skip at rest is a stored hazard - it can creep down, and it invites climbing.
- Apply the parking brake, put controls in neutral, stop the engine, and let it settle.
- Chock the wheels if there is any slope at all - a parking brake is not a substitute for a chock on a gradient.
- Remove the key and hand it to the authorised person or put it in the secure key system. Leaving it in the cab is how machines get moved by people who are not trained or authorised to move them.
- Isolate and lock the machine as the site procedure requires, and check for leaks and drips under the machine before leaving it.
- Report the broken gate padlock - a fenced site with a broken lock is not a secure site, and an unauthorised start-up is a serious risk to whoever does it.
3. What environmental and reporting obligations sit behind this situation, and what should you do about last week's spill?
Read the worked answer
Fuel and oil are polluting in small quantities, and surface water drains usually go straight to a watercourse.
Obligations in practice:
- Store and dispense fuel so it cannot escape to ground or drains - bunded or drip-trayed storage, sound hoses and couplings, and a spill kit available at the point of refuelling. Empty spill kits and missing drip trays are reportable defects in the system, not housekeeping.
- Never hose a spill into a drain. Diesel in a surface water drain can kill fish and vegetation for a long distance; the drain is likely to be a controlled discharge.
- Duty of care on waste: contaminated absorbent, rags and soil are hazardous/special waste and must go to an authorised recipient with the correct paperwork.
What to do about last week's spill:
- Report it to your supervisor today, in writing if the site has a system, and record it in the environmental incident log. It is evidence of a recurring failure of the refuelling arrangements.
- Ask what was done at the time: was the drain protected, was the spill absorbed, was it reported? If a polluting discharge occurred, the site has legal duties to report and remediate - that is a management call, but you are the person who knows, so you must pass it on.
- Fix the cause now: drip tray, replenished spill kit, replaced coupling, and a clear refuelling point away from the drain.