As 2023 comes to an end, safety directors, product managers, purchasing managers and training personnel should consider taking note of their inventory to ensure their companies have the most up-to-date safety manuals in stock.
While safety awareness should always be a top priority, it’s imperative for AEM member companies stay up to date with the most recently published titles in order to maintain a robust safety and product liability program, as well as ensure the safety and well-being of operators.
AEM made two notable updates to safety manual titles in 2023, offering both members and end users more user-friendly and easily accessible content on safe practices to use when operating and maintaining machinery:
- One of AEM’s most popular titles, the Hydraulic Excavator Safety Manual, was updated in September thanks in large part to the feedback and insights of AEM member companies. This manual provides guidance on the safe operation and maintenance of hydraulic excavators, as well as the identification and mitigation of common hazards associated with these machines.
- AEM’s Aerial Platform Safety Manual is now titled Mobile Elevating Work Platform Safety Manual, but the form number remains AP-0802.
In addition, the association announced a pair of new safety manual titles geared toward Portable Rock Crusher and Slipform Pavers early on in 2023.
AEM’s safety material offerings are consensus products developed, reviewed and approved by committees empaneled by AEM, and they represent best practices for the industry. The association's safety materials program includes more than 55 manual titles, and they also include collateral such as videos, brochures, decals and training kits.
The importance of safety is embedded in everything AEM does to support its 1,000-plus members. It’s why the association offers an extensive array of new and updated manuals, with major equipment types covering aerial, agriculture, compact/portable, earthmoving, forestry, lifting road paving and utility excavation applications. In many cases, an AEM safety manual is assigned a part number as part of a manufacturer’s production process to ensure it is included with other safety literature when the equipment is sold into market.
All AEM manuals are reviewed by expert product safety professionals and updated to reflect changing industry standards and pictorials. The form number remains the same, with a revision date notated on the back cover. Once the manuals are made available, members have the option to purchase in bulk to receive volume discounts to help ensure their equipment is ready to ship on time with industry consensus safety literature
Oftentimes, these manuals are a registered part of the safety inspection before the equipment ever leaves the factory. This process ensures the materials are recognized as due diligence toward safe product manufacturing and that operators have the safety references they need.
When its first safety manual was published in 1969, AEM (then known as CIMA) set into motion a safety materials program that has grown and developed significantly over the half-century that followed. The goal was a simple one: Provide members with a safety manual that worked in lockstep with members’ OEMs’ publications and conveyed industry best practices for equipment safety. To accomplish that goal, the association enlisted members to set aside competitive differences and develop, review and approve consensus-based safety documents related to operating equipment.
In 2023, AEM shipped nearly 1million units worth of safety materials to its members and the public last year. While North America was the biggest destination for those materials, AEM shipped its materials into Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Germany as well.
Looking ahead to the coming year and beyond, AEM members can expect to see safety manual content available online in a print protected and interactive format for classroom reference and training purposes, which will be made available to member companies and the general industry. Members can also expect a robust roster of newly updated construction and agricultural safety manuals that are currently in progress with the help of AEM’s dedicated committees.
Learn More
Visit safetymaterials.org to see the complete line of AEM safety materials. For bulk discount pricing, order inquiries, and other information pertaining to AEM’s suite of safety materials, contact AEM’s Rebecca Basten at rbasten@aem.org.
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