This page is the current version of this Hitachi ZX17U-5A excavator safety summary — download the PDF below for the complete document, including the manufacturer's full manual.
Only trained, competent people operate this machine — one operator, seated, seatbelt fastened, no riders on the machine, blade, bucket or load, ever. Walk around it before you start each day: check for leaks, damaged or rubbing hoses, loose or frayed wiring, cracked or missing guards, track damage and a worn seat belt, plus fluid levels, lights and horn.
Read the site before you read the machine — overhead lines, buried services, ground strength, soft or filled ground, trench edges, slopes, access and who else is working nearby. Wear the gear the job needs (hard hat, safety boots, eye protection, hi-vis, gloves, hearing protection), keep the cab and pedals clear of loose tools, and get on and off facing the machine with three points of contact — never the blade or a lever.
Start only from the operator's seat, with the seat belt fastened. If the machine tips, it will go over faster than you can jump clear — stay in the seat.
Never travel across a grade steeper than 15° — travel straight up and down the fall line instead, and only change direction on level ground. Never swing the upperstructure downhill, and reduce speed on rough ground or slopes.
Never undercut a high bank — the edge can collapse without warning, and soft, filled or wet ground needs reinforcing before you work on it. Keep spoil back from any edge, stay well back from trench edges, and never enter an unsupported excavation — in WA, work in or near a trench deeper than 1.5 m is high-risk construction work and the walls must be battered, benched or shored first. If it does go over, do not jump — stay seated with the belt fastened, then stop and call us rather than trying to recover the machine yourself.
This is a reduced tail-swing machine, but the counterweight still moves and the boom sweeps a wide arc — barricade or sign the area, look around before backing up or swinging every single time, and use a spotter with agreed signals if your view is blocked. Never swing or hold the bucket over a person or a vehicle cab.
Before you break ground, locate every service — lodge an enquiry with Before You Dig Australia (byda.com.au or 1100), have assets marked on site, and hand-expose anything you'll work close to. Keep clear of overhead lines: 3 m minimum from lines above 1,000 V (most street powerlines) and 6 m above 33,000 V, and Western Power must assess any work within 3 m of 33 kV assets — if you can't identify the voltage, assume the larger distance and call them first.
Expand the tracks for all normal work — with the tracks retracted the machine is far less stable, so stick to flat, solid ground only, and don't excavate, lift, or travel and swing anything but very slowly. Use only the buckets supplied with the machine; other attachments change its stability and lifting limits and aren't covered by your hire agreement or our insurance. Operating weight with the canopy is about 1,880 kg.
The canopy is your rollover protection (ROPS) — never weld, drill or modify it, and never mount anything to it. If it's damaged at all, stop work and call us. Changing buckets is a two-hand, engine-off job: rest the attachment on the ground, stop the engine, lock the controls, and wear eye protection and gloves before you touch a pin.
Park on firm, level ground, clear of other machines and not on a grade. Lower the bucket and blade to the ground, run the engine at slow idle without load for five minutes to cool it, then turn the key off, remove it, pull the shut-off lever to LOCK and close and lock the covers. Never leave the seat with the attachment raised or the shut-off lever unlocked — brushing a control lever on your way out is enough to set the machine moving.
If you have no choice but to park on a grade, block both tracks and thrust the bucket teeth into the ground, and park where the machine can't roll or be reached by the public.
Load and unload on solid, level ground using ramps and a deck rated for the machine's mass, with a spotter positioned where you can see them. Select slow travel mode and drive straight — never steer on the ramp; back off, reposition on the ground and start again.
Secure it before you move off: bucket and blade down on the deck, lever locked, key out, tracks chocked and chained through the tie-down points. The machine is roughly 3.5 m long, 1.28 m wide, 2.38 m high and 1,880 kg — check that against your trailer, towball and licence limits before you head off.
Stop the engine before refuelling — refuel outdoors, away from flames and sparks, no smoking, and tighten the caps afterwards. Coolant and the hydraulic tank are pressurised: never open a cap on a hot machine, and never run the machine in an enclosed space, since exhaust fumes can kill.
Working near dry grass is a fire risk — keep an extinguisher and a first aid kit on site and clean the machine down at the end of each day. Never search for a hydraulic leak with your hand (use cardboard), and never touch the track adjuster — its grease and spring are under extreme force and can be fatal.
Not permitted, ever: modifying the machine, its guards, wiring, canopy or protective structure; fitting attachments other than the buckets supplied; carrying riders or lifting or supporting any person; or working in asbestos or contaminated ground. Operating with a damaged hose, guard, canopy or seat belt means stop work and call us — don't keep going. Daily walk-around checks, greasing and refuelling are your job for the length of the hire.
Life-threatening emergency: call 000, then make the area safe and keep everyone back. Fire: key off if there's time, extinguisher only if it's safe, then get clear and stay clear — never fight a fuel or hydraulic fire. High-pressure fluid injection (a pinhole leak can inject oil through skin with almost no visible wound) needs hospital straight away, and you must tell them what happened so it can be surgically removed within hours.
Contact with a power line: stay in the seat and touch no metal; if fire forces you out, jump clear without ever touching the machine and the ground at once, and keep everyone 8 m back. Lightning: stop work — this machine has a canopy, not a cab, so get well away from it until the storm has passed.
Report every incident, damage or near-miss to Timech Hire in writing within one business day, and report theft, loss or malicious damage to police within 48 hours with a report number. This summary does not replace the Hitachi Operator's Manual supplied with the machine, which must be read before use and kept with it — where the two differ, the Manual applies.