Sunbelt’s Stachowiak Speaks at Aerial Safety Conference

Nov. 8, 2004
Sunbelt Rentals’ director of access safety and training, Jeff Stachowiak, presented a session on “The Real Cost of an Accident,” to increase awareness of the many costs associated with incidents at the inaugural Aerial Platform Safety Conference held ...

Sunbelt Rentals’ director of access safety and training, Jeff Stachowiak, presented a session on “The Real Cost of an Accident,” to increase awareness of the many costs associated with incidents at the inaugural Aerial Platform Safety Conference held last week in Dallas. Stachowiak aims to relate costs arising from incidents to companies’ profit and loss statements, show how future costs are directly correlated to these incidents, and discuss potential long-term effects of incidents.

“Equipment damage is just one small portion of the total costs associated with an accident,” said Stachowiak. “An accident triggers an array of increased costs, including workers’ compensation insurance, insurance premiums, property damage, job delays, OSHA fines, and investigation time, to name a few. ‘The Real Cost of an Accident’ provides a detailed guide to help you understand the real cost of an accident and how safety training can help reduce this cost.”

Stachowiak’s session was one of more than 30 sessions on all aspects of aerial lift safety that was featured at the Aerial Platform Safety Conference, sponsored by Lift Applications & Equipment magazine and Aerial Work Platform Training Inc. Everything from discovering the latest technical innovations in aerial equipment safety to understanding post-fall suspension trauma to maintaining an efficient fleet was covered during the three-day conference.

As chairman of Sunbelt’s Safety Committee, Stachowiak is actively involved in the ANSI A92 Committee, Scaffold Industry Association, and Underwriters Laboratories. This involvement, along with his experiences pioneering the Aerial Platform Council and overseeing Risk Management with BPS Equipment, earned him a spot on the APS Advisory Committee, which met in April 2004 to develop the agenda for the conference.

In addition to general and specialized safety sessions such as Stachowiak’s, the Aerial Platform Safety Conference sponsored an aerial equipment exhibit and demonstration area where a limited number of spaces were available for manufacturers to display their equipment.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Sunbelt Rentals is No. 4 on the RER 100.