AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Case study Fines for unsafe tipping

24th November 2005
Page 31
Page 32
Page 31, 24th November 2005 — Case study Fines for unsafe tipping
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A trust was prosecuted following an incident when the raised body of a tipper lorry contacted an overhead power line while it was delivering gravel to a farm.

The driver, who escaped injury, was unaware of the overhead power line. There were no precautions to prevent contact with OHPLs, nor any system in place for providing power cables or pipe work).

When on site, drivers should only be permitted outside their cabs when they absolutely need to be (eg to open doors, operate controls etc) and then only when: • They are wearing high-visibility clothing and appropriate footwear.

• They stay near their vehicle.

• Other vehicle movements have stopped.

SAFE TIPPING

Although this can sometimes be difficult, particularly on tight building sites or farms, articulated vehicles must only be tipped with the cab and trailer in line. To do otherwise will seriously compromise the stability of the tipping trailer. Before tipping, the driver should always check the load is evenly spread across the vehicle and the vehicle should remain level at all times, even if it is driven forward during tipping.

• Wheel-stops should be used when possible to help position vehicles,

• They must be large enough to let the driver know when to stop.

• Never allow anyone to stand or walk behind the vehicle when the body is raised or during tipping and, whenever possible, tipping mechanisms should be controlled from the cab. When raising or lowering the body, the driver should never leave the vehicle.

• Drivers should be experienced enough to anticipate loads sticking.

• The vehicle must never be driven in order to shake free a stuck load. If the load does stick, the body must be lowered and the load freed before the body is raised again.

• The operator should always make sure that the body is completely empty after tipping.

• The operator should not drive more than a few metres forward to make sure the load is clear, and should only do this after checking the load is at the bottom of the tipping body.

• If the vehicle begins to topple over, the driver should brace him/herself against the back of the driver's seat and hold firmly on to the steering wheel. The driver should never try to jump out of a lorry that is falling over.

TIPPER STABILITY

In the absence of any British or European recognised design standard for integrity and stability of tipper truck during operation, the Institute of Road Transport Engineers has produced a Guide to Tipper Stability. Essentially, this is a performance standard that sets out specific stability performance criteria to be met by end tipping vehicles.

The guide aims to assist engineers, fleet and transport managers in selecting a tipper that suits their needs and offers guidance to tipper bodybuilders on how to achieve the standards. Two categories of minimum stability are recommended to guide purchasers of tippers: • Category B is a minimum stability standard continued on back page "Tipping can be dangerous. The machinery or load can seriously hurt people. A lot of vehicles overturn each year, sometimes causing fatal accidents." So says the Health & Safety Executive in its Work Place Transport guidance for tipper operators and drivers.

This guidance outlines in sensible detail the key points which need to be observed in order to avoid problems on site when tipper drivers are delivering.

ON SITE

When driving on-road the tipper driver should obey the Highway Code and observe standard driving practice, paying particular attention to the possibility that the nature of the tipper body anci load may mean the vehic;le has a high centre of gravity and the vehicle should be driven accordingly.

It's off-road, however, where the majority of incidents involving tippers are more likely to occur and the HSE issues guidance for safe practice when vehicles venture onto site. The following are the major areas of attention.

Drivers visiting a site must report to the site office. The site operator and the visiting driver need to speak to each other and cooperate, for example to make sure everyone is aware tipping is about to happen and only those people involved in the tipping are in the immediate area.

The site operator must make sure tipping faces are suitable and safe, for example by making sure that tipping platforms faces are compacted on landfill sites, and that there are no steep side slopes. Tipping sites should be: level, firm and stable (the whole site must be able to hold the vehicle and load during tipping) and clear overhead (there must be no


comments powered by Disqus