THE TRUE COST OF NEGLECT
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How much is a man worth? £10? £100? £100,000? Any haulier facing a negligence claim from on injured employee could well find that the figure is a lot higher. lithe latest statistics from the TGWU and URTU are anything to go by, too many operators are still playing fast and loose with their drivers' well being. According to the unions more than 2,700 cases are currently being pursued on behalf of injured drivers. (see news story, page 10). Just stop to consider that figure_ That's 50 coachloacls of drivers whose futures may well have been jeopardised. When it comes to looking after his drivers our old friend Joe Soap Haulier reckons it's all a waste of time: "It's not enough I've got to pay 'ern. Now I've got to mollycoddle the buggers every time they drive t'wagons. If they can't do the job without falling over and hurting themselves they shouldn't be doing it at all." Still, Joe should know a thing or two about pain. Last year he fell down the inspection pit after he couldn't be bothered to put chains around it. In this day and age it's an anachronism that drivers are still being injured through employer negligence. Like the Victorian Work House, industrial accidents should have been consigned to the history books. After all, it's not as if we don't know what causes therm Take a look out of the traffic office window and what can you see? Drivers wobbling up the side of slippery tippers trying to sheet a load. Teenage forklift operators attempting a new world record in the clean jerk. Shunters roaring around with nothing between their ears except the noise from a personal stereo. The average haulage yard is a minefield of personal accident claims just waiting to go off. And what are you doing to prevent yourself being taken to court over a personal injury claim? Any operator who thinks his responsibility ends at the front gates might like to remember that the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 puts an obligation on employers to ensure drivers' safety away from the depot. Can you put a price on your drivers' heads? If you neglect their safety they could be worth their weight in gold—literally.