Excavators do roll over and only ISO certified ROPS and FOPS with rigorous testing and welding standards will keep operators safe on site
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When Jeff Samuels took the stage at the NSW Resources Regulator’s 33rd Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar, he didn’t mince words: excavators roll over, people die, and the only way to ensure real protection is through ISO-certified rollover and falling object protective structures.
Jeff, managing director of QMW Industries and long-time member of Standards Australia’s ME-063 committee, has spent decades shaping both national and international safety standards for earthmoving and mining machinery. Drawing on his experience with fatal incidents and court cases, he cut through a long-standing industry misconception: “For years, people thought excavators didn’t roll over. That simply isn’t true. The evidence shows otherwise.”
A Gap in Standards, Now Closed
Until the early 2000s, excavators were left out of the earthmoving equipment safety framework. Other machinery – dozers, loaders, dump trucks – had rollover protection standards in place, but excavators did not. Jeff recalled how the Japanese machinery association, supported by workplace regulators, pushed to close that gap: “They rolled full-sized machines down mountains to see exactly what happens. That data helped us draft a proper standard.”
The result was ISO 12117-2, published in 2008, setting the benchmark for ROPS on excavators between six and 50 tonnes. Smaller machines are covered by tip-over protective standards, but crucially, the standard does not exclude larger machines. “If you’re running a 70-tonne excavator, you can still apply ISO 12117-2 – but you must do the destructive testing,” Jeff explained.
Why Testing Matters
Jeff emphasised that ROPS are not simply steel frames bolted onto machines – they are engineered systems that must bend in a controlled way to absorb energy. “When you design a crane beam, bending means failure. With ROPS, it’s the opposite. The structure has to deform to protect the operator,” he said.
Computer models like finite element analysis are useful, but they are not enough. “The ISO standard is clear – you must do full-scale destructive testing. We’ve done more than 200 physical tests on machines up to 150 tonnes. That’s how you know the structure will perform in the real world.”
Fabrication Is Critical
Designing to ISO is only half the battle. Jeff made the point that fabrication, welding, and QA systems are just as important: “A poor weld can kill as quickly as a poor design. Welders must be qualified to AS 1554 standards, and every weld should be tested – visually, destructively, and with non-destructive methods like ultrasonic or X-ray.”
He warned against the common but dangerous practice of modifying ROPS after certification. “Once a structure is certified, you can’t drill holes or weld bits onto it. That voids the certification, and it may no longer protect anyone in a rollover.”
Shared Responsibility
Jeff stressed that safety is a shared responsibility across the supply chain. OEMs must supply certified structures. Contractors must follow correct welding and fabrication practices. And mine operators must inspect machines on arrival, verify compliance plates, and enforce site culture around unmodified use.
His advice was blunt: “If the compliance plate on your excavator doesn’t reference an ISO standard, it’s not ROPS. It’s just a frame. And it won’t protect your people.”
The Bottom Line
For mining professionals, Jeff’s message is both practical and urgent. Rollovers do happen. Certified ROPS and FOPS save lives. And only ISO-backed standards, combined with rigorous testing and fabrication discipline, can ensure operators walk away from the worst-case scenario.