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Accidents are avoidable
Page 26
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I HAVE been driving for over 30 years and so am aware of many risks involved with the work that thousands of us do.There are still many things that consider unnecessarily dangerous and that carry substantial risks for any truck driver. Most will never change because there is still not enough representation for the trade and the authorities don't give a damn as long as those wheels keep rolling and the goods arrive in time to ensure profits.
However, there is one aspect of the job that I would like to highlight to hopefully prevent future accidents such as the one I had.
Two years ago I was driving a 16-tonne rigid curtainsider on a multi-drop run. On my third drop an employee turned up and said he would unload the delivery.
I had a couple of pallets,plus a few loose items to be dropped off for them and after pulling the curtain I attempted to enter the rear of the truck so! could put the loose items on top of the pallet. I could not use the tail-lift as two pallets were blocking the rear door (these were for a drop further on, and required pallet-trucking as there was no forklift there).
The only way to gain access was to climb the side crashbars between the axles after a pallet had been lifted off, and this I did. Most truck and trailers in the UK are not fitted with proper steps to allow safe access, neither are they fitted with grab rails so gaining access is a risk.
I slipped and landed on my chest on the rave of the bed. I was thrown backwards, landing on my hack in the forecourt twisting my foot. I could not move for several minutes. I could not breathe and the pain in my chest was excruciating.
The incident was logged in the accident book where I was unloading and I left to carry on the day's deliveries.
Four days later I collapsed and ended up in hospital with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. It was all the result of slipping on those sidebars, which I maintain nobody should have to climb in the first place.
As much as we criticise foreign trucks, many of their operators have either fitted ladders that slide out of sight when not in use or steps fixed to their trucks and trailers. It's a pity operators over here don't think that we [drivers] are worth the effort.
I attempted to take the firm to court, claiming negligence on their part, but there is no law or obligation to make them do anything at all.I have only written to you now because it took these two years to discover that nothing would come of my efforts to get compensation. Name and address supplied