1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
Gerard Palmer Huntapac Transport Preston Transport manager Gerard Palmer is
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
responsible for a 36-strong fleet in a company that grows and distributes fresh produce. That makes him one link in a chain of command where responsibility for health and safety issues is crucial.
His fear is that under the planned legislation there will be no clear definitions of vinere each manager's responsibility ends: "Let's say you have a vehicle and the transport manager takes all reasonable precautions to make sure it's safe, such as ensuring it has an MoT and is serviced regularly.
"But then you have a driver who doesn't bother to do his daily checks, or says he has done them when he hasn't. Under the chain of command, who would be liable for corporate manslaughter if anything should happen?' The strongest defence will lie in a company's ability to demonstrate it has taken all reasonable preventive action.
"We have a health and safety officer on site and she is always playing devil's advocate," Palmer reports. "Plus, our insurance company comes round every year and advises us on damage limitation. In short, we try to do everything we can to ensure we are operating as safely as possible."
Gerard Palmer