Re: I\'m Gonna Drill My Rops...
It's not so complicated. You guys have it figured out...Henro, it's those attorneys that had you brainwashed.
It's not the actual hole drilled in the ROPS that is the issue, it's that the ROPS has been "modified" from a certified design. By certified, I mean by ASAE and OSHA, in most cases.
When a machine with a ROPS is used in a commercial, industrial, or municipal capacity it is typical that it must meet one or both standards. This is usually specified in the RFP, Bid Specs, contract, and bill of sale. These machines go out the door of the factory, and in some cases, the dealer, and are certified to meet theASAE/OSHA standard AS DESIGNED. If the design is changed after delivery, everybody upstream has a chance at getting off the hook if someone is hurt because of the failure of the modified safety device.
Example: If you have a landscaping business and an employee is injured or killed becasue a ROPS failed, you are less likely to be held negligent as long as the equipment had all of its safety equipment intact and in good working condition, as certified. Of course you might be liable from negilgence for putting the operator in some unsafe condition, but the upstream participants in the design and manufacture of the equipment are the ones in hot water for a ROPS failure unless you, or your employee, have modified the ROPS or some other safety device on the machine.
If a ROPS is certified, never modified, and fails, there's a whole set of deep pockets that an injured party, or his estate, could go after. If it's been modified, the party that did the modification has some risk of being held to some level of contributory negligence, and the manufacturer may find a way off the hook. This holds true, in principle, for privately purchased, modified, and re-sold machines, too. Modify the ROPS and sell it to Farmer Jim down the road, and you run the risk of a subpoena in your future if Jim is hurt in a rollover. And guess who will be serving papers to you...the original equipment manufacturer claiming they sold certified equipment. You see, Farmer Jim's widow's attorney has sued the equipment manufacturer, and they know the ROPS was certified.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Small holes for mounting things would have to be strategically placed to really cause a point of failure. In fact, I think you'd have to be an engineer to know where to drill a hole that would have a high likelyhood of causing a failure. I know, I know, some ROPS have pre-drilled holes all over them, but they (the holes) have been included as part of the certified design.
Dealers might not take a trade-in of safety-modified equipment, or they might at least deduct from the trade-in value the amount required to bring the equipment back to the "certified" condition.
Please don't name me in your defense brief of the long-shot lawsuit, but drilling one or two small mounting holes in the crown of the ROPS won't likely render it unsafe unless it's poorly designed in the first place. Use common sense and mount your stuff in the least intrusive way possible. ...but please don't modify any safety device if the machine is used by your employees or fellow workers in some form of professional application. Your modification probably won't contribute to the injury, but the courts might not see it that way. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
