Hauliers did not enforce safety at height rules
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Two hauliers have been fined a total of £10,000 after a driver broke both heels when he fell from the top of a truck IN A PROSECUTION brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Falkirk Sheriff Court was told how a driver from Hamilton-based Yuill and Dodds was working at the AW Jenkinson (Woodwaste) facility on the Can-iden Industrial Estate in Bo'ness when he fell from a ladder in November 2010.
The man drove his vehicle out of the loading shed after it was filled with woodchips. He parked it alongside the shed to fit the fabric cover over the top. His usual trailer — bought for that contract — was fitted with an automatic sheeting system that could be operated by remote control from the ground. However, on the day of the incident it was not available, so he used a trailer with a manual sheeting system that needed to be operated from its gantry.
The man experienced some difficulties sheeting the load and was unsuccessful in fully covering the woodchips and securing the sheet and used a ladder to climb up to the rear of the trailer — where the sheet was jamming — to free it. There was a personal fall protection system, consisting of a safety harness and inertia reel, provided at the premises but neither he nor any AW Jenkinson employees knew how to use it safely.
While the driver was standing on the top rung of the ladder, it slipped and fell from under him He grabbed the top side of the trailer by his hands but realising that no one could see him and that he could not hang on until assistance arrived, he let go and dropped just over 2m to the ground, landing on his feet. The man was taken to hospital with fractures to both heels, was absent from work for several months and was confined to a wheelchair for a period. He has since returned to work.
An HSE investigation found that Yuill and Dodds failed to ensure measures were in place for employees to manually sheet trailers safely at height if the task could not be completed from the ground. It also discovered that AW Jenkinson (Woodwaste) did not have effective arrangements in place to ensure employees of other companies using its premises were provided with the necessary information regarding safe working at height to sheet lorry trailers.
Yuill and Dodds was fined £6,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and AW Jenkinson (Woodwaste) was fined £4,000 for breaching the act. The case has resulted in improvements at the site, with the installation of an overhead gantry that allows drivers to complete sheeting of loads from a safe position.
Summing up Falling from a vehicle is a risk in logistics. However, in this case, both companies had identified the risk but did not take appropriate action to address it.