I’ve just agreed to do a Banksman’s course tomorrow owing to a cancellation.
Has anyone done this? What can I expect?
All the information I have is that it’s for reversing lorries on roadworks, Barber Green and Planers and the like.
Any information would be gratefully received.
Not done it myself but I expect it will be full of H&S nonsense.
ENJOY :-/
Some of the so called Banksman on some road jobs are clueless. They are more nuisance than they are worth. A course in common sense is what most of them need.
DTR,
I was told to go on it because I wont tolerate crap banksman, I throw as many ■■■■■ out of the window as I need to until they stand where I want them and give the signals I want.
I think I’ve been sent as punishment for ■■■■■■■ at them.
Tipper Tom, I think all Banksmen should have done at least two years on tippers first,otherwise how will they have a clue about directing a LGV on a site.
I would tend to agree, however it seems to be the one’s with HGV licences that are the worst. We work regularly with a young lad who’s had his ticket for a few weeks and he’s brilliant, complacency seems to be the issue.
When I worked for a company doing own account trunking the h&s bloke was there doing a course, as I was about to leave I had to do a reasonably tight reverse and the got me to do it a couple of times to help train the chap, I ended up having to tell him where to stand and explain where he needed to stand so I could still him…
You need to get 2 Table Tennis Bats, Hard Hat, Ear Defenders, Raybans & of course Hi Viz (acts as a Reverse of Harry Potters Invisibility Cloak, because no one can see you without one !)
Then you can look like the Banksmen on Yankee Doodle Dandy Aircraft Carriers & as the wagon reverses past you- Go down on one knee & point to where you want it to go !
It depends who it’s with but generally a Banksman course involves a short(ish) classroom session with Powerpoint/handouts on signalling & safety zones/blind spots etc. Then a short practical session out ‘in the yard’ with all the appropriate PPE & culminating in you demonstrating you can safely watch the driver reverse, giving guidance & signals as required, whilst standing in a safe, visible place. Not much to it really, common sense with a bit of H & S thrown in!!!
Our workshop put people on the Banksmans course ,bit of a farce …Was told approach the vehicle ,introduce yourself and that you will guide him where he needs to go…And apart from the yellow vest grrrrrrr…it is all basic hand signals .It’s nothing to be concerned about ,pretty basic and commonsense…Just remember as you are guiding the driver if he has a bump you may be blamed as you are in charge,so make sure the driver is watching you and not doing his own thing
Well that was the single most bring experience of my life.
I passed, I’ve just given the question paper to my 12 year old daughter who’s never driven and has no interest in machinery, lorries etc and aside from the practical, which I was told you cant fail, she’s passed too 
Making these courses so easy and generally teaching very little makes a mockery of Health and Safety, which I maintain if executed properly would be a wonderful thing.
NPORS Qualified Vehicle Banksman apparently.
The crane banksman course is much more interesting but it costs more and is longer. You’re taught the internationally-recognised signals which you can then put to good use when directing a vehicle, mobile crane or Hiab.
Dave the Renegade:
Some of the so called Banksman on some road jobs are clueless. They are more nuisance than they are worth. A course in common sense is what most of them need.
+1. The best ones are the ones that stand behind the truck so you can’t bloody see them then have a go because your not obeying their instructions!.
We’ve had some BS on banksman training too in the past.
All hand signals this and hand signals that.
It all goes out of the window, preferring instead the time tested method of waving your arm backwards to motion backwards, hand up to stop, both hands up to stop now, and shouting ■■■■■■■ stop if driver isn’t looking at you in his mirror.
Karl86:
Dave the Renegade:
Some of the so called Banksman on some road jobs are clueless. They are more nuisance than they are worth. A course in common sense is what most of them need.+1. The best ones are the ones that stand behind the truck so you can’t bloody see them then have a go because your not obeying their instructions!.
I was a Banksman on the roads years ago and it goes both ways,I would say to a driver if you can’t see me in your mirror stop and i’ll move till you can,then you’d get some idiot heading off in the wrong direction and when you asked him why he’d say “I couldn’t see you” and wouldn’t be able to answer me when I asked why he didn’t stop till he could.You don’t know if the banksman has fallen over in the mud and is lying under your truck,if you do get a usless one keep stopping they’ll soon get sick of running to the cab to ask why you’ve stopped.Personally what worked for me was that I used to tell drivers if there were soft spots and that I would be making them steer round them and wasn’t taking the ■■■■ out of them by having twist and turn all over the place