The ARA of California lunchtime chats have continued to draw a diverse crowd of rental operators from throughout the state and the entire region because of the important topics addressed — American National Standards Institute (ANSI) regulations featuring Steve Marshall, Genie, a Terex Brand, at the March 10 online meeting and equipment theft featuring Melissa Somers, Crime Prevention Program of Southern California, during the April 14 meeting.
These two sessions are just the latest lunchtime chats Robert Pedersen, president, A Tool Shed, Santa Cruz, Calif., has sat in on.
“I love to take part in all the ARA of California luncheons for two reasons: One is that it is a good way to meet and see everyone. We used to do yard meetings, but we haven’t been able to do that since COVID hit. The second is that there always are good speakers and good topics to listen to. The speakers have been great,” he says.
The March ANSI Standards meeting served as a great refresher and reinforcement for him and his branch managers. “Steve did a very good job of explaining the new ANSI regulations. We already have done a couple of classes on it here through our trainer. We had all our branch managers sit in on the ARA of California session, too. It served as another important training, and it’s always great for our team to hear this information from someone else besides us. It underscores the training we already have offered,” he says.
That meeting also included a roundtable for the young professionals who were on the call. “We talked with them about what they would like us to offer after COVID is over. I want to make sure they stay connected beyond online meetings and texts. I shared how important it is to have that personal contact with vendors and other rental operators. COVID has made that much harder, but I shared how important that contact is,” he says.
Claire Maugham, owner, Redbird Rentals, San Clemente, Calif., also attended the ANSI training to “to confirm that our understanding of the regulations was accurate,” she says. “Our business focuses on the landscape and tree care industry. The ANSI standards are a big part of the MEWP (mobile elevating work platform) requirement for rental operators and our customer base as users of MEWPs.”
Marshall’s presentation was particularly insightful for Maugham in two respects.
“He provided a chart showing the hierarchy of various entities who have responsibilities in respect to the new standard. That helped clarify the user as the employer. There are so many entities involved in all of these regulations. That made it really clear and concise. The other part was regarding the A92.22 standard, which is the safe use. He summarized that with bullet points of what is required to be in your safe use plan. Reading through the entire standard is a very lengthy process. The site risk assessment is one of the cruxes of the regulation. We are new to the MEWP arena with our equipment. That was not anything that we had identified as a need,” she says.
Maugham has found that many of her customers are confused about the standards. “The vast majority of our customer base is not aware of what is required of them under the new standards. Most have trained their operators, but they are not aware of the requirements for the safe use plan. They are not aware of the fact that their direct supervisors of the operators are required to have some training. These are all things that we can now provide as value-added service to our customers to help them maintain compliance,” she says.
To help limit her liability and assist her customers, Maugham has put together, using in part the information she learned from the seminar, “a two-page document that lists the different standards and provides the customer a very brief summary of what each one covers and their responsibility under those standards as well as links for purchasing the full standard. We also list available online training as well as in-person practical resources. We don’t have to perform the training in-house, but we have to provide customers with a resource to where they can get trained. “
Maugham is glad she took part. “I got a lot out of it. It offered immense value. To have an expert in the arena — Steve from Genie, A Terex Brand — really confirmed some of the stuff we had learned and also provided additional insight. It helped me finalize the document that we have been sharing with our customers. It provided me with the peace of mind of where we are at now — that we are covered as far as what is required of us as far as the regulations,” she says.
As for the April theft presentation, Pedersen liked how Somers reiterated “the same kind of things that were outlined in the Safety Issue of Rental Management that highlighted theft. She talked about the need for more GPS on equipment, more surveillance cameras and special markings on your equipment. We have put special markings on our equipment, which has helped in the recovery of equipment that was stolen,” he says.
Pedersen also liked how Somers highlighted the proper way to inform other rental operations of an issue with a possible thief. “You have to be very careful how you present that information so you don’t end up in a lawsuit. She said sharing generalities instead of making a positive accusation is important, such as, ‘We had a customer who presented himself/herself as … . The customer was possibly driving a red truck. I believe the license was … . He or she may have neglected to return an item from us that was rented on … .’ These generalities allow you to correctly inform the rental operations around you of a potential issue in a way they will understand what is going on,” he says.
Pedersen also liked the suggestion to do a walk-through of the business’s yard to see whether anything is amiss — something Pedersen’s team does daily.
“We have our branch managers walk the yard twice a day. We have a check sheet they go through, making sure that certain pieces of equipment are there, checking the fence line as well as the lighting system. At night, they also check to make sure the keys are out of the vehicles, that no lights are left on in the vehicles and all exterior lighting is working. We are only closed three days out of the year. We take extra precautions on that occasion. We put a lot of emphasis on security,” he says.
Michelle Nelson, president, MK Equipment Corp., Honolulu, also sat in on the April theft session because “theft prevention is something that I feel is very important. It seems that theft has gone up with COVID. We had theft in our area, but, thankfully, we were not impacted,” she says.
She learned a lot. “One of the important aspects of theft prevention is employee training. For instance, asking people to pull down their masks when verifying for identification. I never thought about that as part of our policy,” she says.
Nelson, as did Pedersen, liked Somers’ comment about the importance of having special markings or decals “that are not really obvious to prove it is our equipment. For instance, thieves might rip off our decals, but they may not notice some other type of marking that we could create and put on our equipment. Melissa mentioned that you need to have some kind of proof on your equipment. I never understood that clearly until I sat on the webinar. It made a lot of sense,” she says.
The whole point is to be proactive, “so if theft ever happens to us, we will have everything in place for the police,” she says, adding that not only will she be reviewing her policies but also her rental contracts, security cameras and the locks on her warehouse. “I always have thought about us as such a small operation. I need to stop seeing us as the little off-the-radar place where nobody wants to bother with. This was very eye-opening.”
At first glance, taking part in an educational meeting offered by the ARA of California “might seem it would not be applicable to me, living in Hawaii, but I got a lot out of it. I found it very beneficial,” she says.
Pedersen agrees. “I hope the ARA of California keeps going on with these lunchtime chats on the second Wednesday of every month — even after COVID is over. I think it is a great program. The time goes by really fast. It is only an hour, allowing us to receive great education during our regular lunchtime,” he says.