kills drivers
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drivers as experts in their own field and let them get on with it."
The full report, published in two months, will be targeted at hauliers through the Health and Safety Executive, when bosses will be reminded that injured drivers could claim against them if they have not been properly trained.
LGV test procedures, set by the Driving Standards Agency, only require an oral test on the coupling and uncoupling of trailer units. However, the Road Transport Industry Training Board says it "would hope that good driving schools also carry out practical training".
Michael Driver, fleet engineer for ASO Bull, based in Merton where the inspections proved satisfactory, explains the correct procedure his drivers are told to follow: "Once the handbrake is applied the driver should walk around the unit and make sure it's in a safe parking place, not on a gradient or soft land. He should then apply the ratchet trailer brake, wind down the trailer legs and uncouple the air and electric suzies — the process is simply reversed for reconnecting."
The RHA says adequate training must be supplemented by regular management checks to ensure procedures are followed.