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SAFETY CONSCIOUS • Road safety, safety in the workplace, driver
Page 40
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fatigue and cab comfort are obviously all closely-related subjects which interest me and many others in our industry. I was therefore very pleased to read of the initiative taken by Frank Griffin of the URTU to fight for minimum cab size with maximum comfort. Regrettably, the word "safety" did not appear in the article in the publication which quoted Franks' conunents, neither was there any reference to seat belts.
In reports of accidents involving commercial vehicles, such attention is always focussed on injuries sustained by the occupants of the other vehicles involved, but surely the safety of the lorry driver should be a matter of equal concern.
Ejection from the cab is one of the leading causes of fatalities and serious injuries to lorry drivers involved in accidents. The only way to prevent ejection is through the use of seat belts, the driver who remains seated also has a greater chance of regaining control of the vehicle after an accident. Yet reluctance to use a seat belt remains a major problem among lorry drivers.
A more positive approach to this matter is therefore needed, by the unions to educate their members, the manufacturers, to design a belt more suitable for commercial vehicles, and the legislators to take immediate action.
Further responsibility must also be with the manufacturers to be more comfort and safetyconscious in cab design to create a better working environment for the driver, A properly designed cab can increase productivity, satisfaction and morale; it can also reduce fatigue and accidents.
I can only identify two European manufacturers who have made a positive and successful approach to the problem. Likewise, I can only identify one oil company which has addressed its researches into the matter of contamination from diesel carbon monoxide.
Let us all hope that these few words will be taken as a challenge by the others. Researchers, legislators, trade associations, the unions and technical writers, please note. D E Allen,
Managing director, ROADS, Winchester, H ants.
• When radial-ply tyres succeeded cross-plies, a significant improvement in road safety was predicted. It didn't happen. Similar unfulfilled claims were made when minimum tread depth legislation was introduced.
Annual MoT test returns or even a stroll through a car park will show widespread abuse of tyres — scuffing, baldness, imbalance and misalignment. Tread depth, within reason, is a minor factor: after all, dozens of the world's fastest drivers spend summer weekends chasing each other at phenomenal speeds, often on bald tyres.
Yes, road-going tyres are a compromise, but few drivers realise that perfect brakes and tyres will merely provide crumpled bodywork if (as so often happens) they have allowed themselves to be tailgated by something heavy and an emergency stop is required.
It is people who cause accidents, not parliamentary inaction. So the score this time has to be: Portal°, 1; Hawk, 0; with Bottomley getting bonus points for repeatedly stressing education, rather than legislation.
Anthony G Phillips Salisbury, DON'T INVOLVE US • Regarding the abolition of the Dock Labour Scheme, through the media I have heard the employers', dockers' and unions' side, but I have not yet heard the road haulage view, which is most important to us 30,000 or so drivers who rely on import/export trade.
Having experienced most NDLS docks over 20 years, one can say (apart from a minority) that they are nothing but a pain — waiting, queuing, non-existant assistance and wildcat walkouts all revolve around self-centred working practices designed to give them an easier day, with no thought for us at the mucky end of the stick.
So, let's face facts, over the years the ship operators, agents and hauliers have had
enough and turned to private ports to get away from the stranglehold. The worrying matter now is if the dockers decide to strike, that the unions will expect us to support them.
I urge all lorry drivers to review the past and resist any pressure that may be put on you. Are they worth risking your job and/or company? Ours is not a job for life. We trade in the real market, profit or doom, and not at the expense of others.
John Jones, Salford.
• I was delighted to see in the Commercial Motor of 1-7 June the photograph of a Mercedes-Benz 1222AF fire appliance which belongs to Surrey Fire Brigade and is stationed at Esher Fire Station.
However, despite the inference in the accompanying article, this appliance, bodied by Polymer Power Systems UK, is fitted with Robinson Series 44 roller shutters with lift bar locks supplied by J R Supplies (Cardiff).
II R Day MIRTE, Engineering Officer, Supply Fire Brigade, Reigate.
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