HAULAGE
Page 35
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BULLETIN
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 6 MARCH 1998
Health and safety and haulage depots
How user-friendly is your traffic office? Do your drivers and fitters have a decent place to rest? You might not live in a palace. but that's no excuse for not meeting Health & Safety regs.
TRANSPORT OFFICES are not usually renowned for being salubrious or stuffed with swish executive furnishings. Frequently the reason for this is their location—in or near to the transport yard or even in a corner of the repair workshop. As such, they generally seem to be more akin to a potting shed than a workplace, being characterised by overflowing ashtrays, stale coffee cups, frequent blasts of dust as vehicles drive by, and a pervading odour of diesel exhaust fumes.
Health and Safety duty
Despite the unfortunate desirability of locating transport personnel near to where the vehicle action takes place, this does not excuse the employer's legal responsibility under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to ensure that the workplace and the working environment for employees is safe and healthy. A transport office is as much a workplace as any other of the firm's offices and as such must be maintained in an efficient state.
Ventilation and heating
This means adequate ventilation must be provided to allow for the intake of fresh or purified air and where this is produced by mechanical means, it must be regularly maintained. Suitable heating must be provided (at least up to 16°C) which does not produce injurious or offensive fumes, and a thermometer is required by law
Windows
Where ventilation and lighting is provided by clear windows, these must be made of safety material, protected against breakage and marked to make them apparent. Openable windows, vents and skylights must be capable of being opened, closed and adjusted safely. Windows and skylights must be capable of being cleaned safely
Lighting
Adequate lighting is essential, preferably by natural
means, but otherwise artificially. Where necessaty emergency back-up lighting should be provided.— particularly where a power failure may result in risk to the health or safety of employees.
Cleanliness
Workplaces, including their furnishings and fittings, must be kept clean, Walls, floors and ceilings must have surfaces that are easy to clean and must be regularly cleaned. Waste must be collected in suitable receptacles and not be allowed to accumulate in the work area.
Washrooms
They must be adequately ventilated and lit and must be kept clean and in an orderly condition. Readily accessible and suitable washing facilities must be provided with a clean supply of hot and cold water, soap or cleansing fluid and towels or other means of drying.
Working with computers
Many transport employees are required to work with display screen equipment (computers or terminals) for accounting, record keeping and vehicle routeing and scheduling operations. Where this is the case, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 require employers to establish work routines which allow employees to periodically interrupt such work with breaks or a change of activity, It is suggested that a five to 10-minute break should be taken after every 50 to 60 minutes of work in front of the screen. These should be taken away from the screen and not involve repetitive movements of the arms or hands. Computers: There are Health and Safety rules to follow.
Eye tests
Employees who are required to work with computers are entitled to request free eye or eyesight tests before or at the time of starting work on screens, and at regular intervals thereafter. Where it is found that spectacles are needed to enable the employee to work on a computer, the employer must provide them, paying both for the tests and for the glasses (but only to the extent they are needed for such work).