Govt issues notification on safety requirements for construction equipment vehicles

The government on Wednesday said it has issued a notification laying down safety requirements like visual display, handrail and seat belt anchorages for construction equipment vehicles in order to ensure safety while the vehicles are on roads.

Currently, certain safety requirements are already mandated for construction equipment vehicles in Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.

"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a notification ... in respect of Construction Equipments Vehicles (CEVs) to holistically address the issue of safety requirements, safety of the operator and to ensure safety while such machines are running on public roads along with other vehicles, in a phased manner (Phase-I (April 2021); Phase-II (April 2024)," MoRTH said in a statement. These aim at introducing several safety requirements viz visual display requirements, requirements for operator station and maintenance areas, non-metallic fuel tanks, minimum access dimensions, and others. Construction equipment vehicles are extensively used for carrying out various infrastructure projects. The draft notification in this regard inviting public comments was issued on August 13, 2020.