Our Banksman Essentials Course is now live!

Posted 4 years ago

We’re delighted to announce that our Banksman Essentials Training is now live! This CPD Accredited online training course is for anyone who works as a Banksman and is involved in manoeuvring, loading and unloading vehicles.

The making of our Banksman Course…

Sadly – and perhaps surprisingly – nearly a quarter of all deaths involving vehicles at work occur while reversing. So when we decided to create an online Banksman Essentials training course, we knew we needed to consult experts to make sure the course was accurate, concise and effective. We conducted thorough research, crafted a beautiful script, and had the determination to make the course look fantastic… but what we didn’t have was 7 years of practical plant training experience, or a 98 foot Magni crane!

The role of a Banksman is all about partnership – the operator of workplace transport is not able to see everything around them in a busy work environment (not to mention a vehicle’s natural blindspots!) so working safely requires teamwork. Without having provisions in place, such as someone on the ground with a clear line of sight and the expertise to guide them, an operator of vehicles or large machinery puts themselves and other people at great risk.

Please note: A banksman should only be used as a last resort behind other methods of risk-control, because of the risks to their own safety, but it’s still crucial that employers have some workers trained as banksman in case they are needed to perform these duties onsite.

So in the middle of COVID-19, I picked up the phone and spoke to Matt Durant, Managing Director BAM Construction Training and asked him whether BAM Construction would like to help us to make our Banksman course, so we could provide our learners with accurate signalling demonstrations from an experienced and reliable source. Here’s why he chose to get involved…

When iHasco contacted us about interactive training for Banksman we couldn’t have been more enthusiastic to get involved. Plant & Machinery Movements are the number one cause of fatalities in the UK and it’s a grossly underestimated side of the training sector. It is crucial that any banksman training is informative and interactive to ensure that everyone understands the dangers.

Our instructors have years of experience and we endeavor to improve the standards of any course we’re involved in delivering. With the expertise of iHasco and ourselves, we’re excited to get the right information to the people who need it, and most importantly ensure that everyone gets home at the end of a shift unharmed.

Matt Durant

2 examples of banksman signalling from the course

Within a week we had our actor booked (Anashe Danai), Jack Shrimpton (the BAM CT Instructor) and Neil Baigent (Business Development Executive) ready to guide us through a total of 12 signalling demonstrations for three different vehicles, which we filmed onsite.

When we created this course, we knew that it would never replace the practical training that’s needed for a worker to be signed off as a ‘competent’ Banksman. But we are proud to have worked with industry experts that have helped us provide an informative and accurate training course for those who need a refresher on their Banksman responsibilities – whether they are new to the role or have been doing it for years!

Our friends at BAM CT understand (as do we at iHasco) that using both in-person and online training alongside one another, can raise everyone’s understanding of these vital safety signals, saving people’s lives on a daily basis.

We filmed this course around March time, so going we were very aware of the dangers of unnecessary gatherings of people, but filming this project had social distancing baked into the heart of it. Jack was driving the workplace transport (so he was secure in his cabin), Anashe was demonstrating the hand signals at a safe distance from the vehicle, and I was behind the camera – staying far away enough from the action so I could capture the hand signals that manage the manoeuvres.

I am really pleased with the finished course, it has a real freshness to it, compared to some of the other online resources I had come across during my research. The most important and time consuming element to the shoot was the attention we paid to the smallest details of the procedure, each set up having to be pinpoint perfect so there could be no ambiguity in the scene or the clarity of the signals. But it was well worth it!

Banksman Essentials Training

Our online Banksman Essentials training aims to reduce the risk of accidents when maneuvering large vehicles at work. Learners will understand the role and duties of a banksman, their employer’s responsibilities and the essential banksman hand and arm signals used in the UK & Europe.