Delivering goods in an unfamiliar environment is one of the
Page 32
Page 33
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
most dangerous jobs in road transport yet safety still remains a low priority for many of the businesses involved.
verhead power lines, poor lighting and uneven work surfaces all pose dangers to unwary deliver)/ drivers hich can lead to anything from a rained ankle to death.
Mike Sebastian, a Health & Safety ecutive (HSE) inspector specialising in riculture, estimates that at least one in ur drivers who delivers to farms suffers a ark-related injury each year. "There is an accident culture that accepts at this is a dangerous industry and erefore you can't do a lot about it. We ow that you can but it is a bit of an hill struggle convincing people". Martin Keightley, a group health and fety manager for Sidney C Banks, the dfordsh ire-based agricultural merchant, ys one of its drivers was off work for more than five weeks last year simply through twisting his ankle on broken concrete paving in a farmyard. "The number of times a farmer alerts you to a possible problem is very small. We get our sales reps to feed the information back to us."
He says that in the Eastern where his company mainly operates, safety standards on farms are generally very good. "But they do go to the other extreme where the owner or tenant thinks that because he is a one-man band, he is immune to the law and treats his visitor as on incumbent."
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have to ensure their work activities do not put at risk people who are not employed by them which includes delivery drivers. Farmers should discuss delivery arrangements with hauliers so drivers have Counties, advance warning of any hazard particularly in relation to access routes. Tipper drivers are also exposed to t dangers of working in an unfamili environment. Roger Hobby, managi director of Marshall Barry (Lincoln), so toppling over on uneven surface is common risk. "Mo of these accidents a because of driv error; he 9e positioned in a b way or the materi has been load wrongly so that it stic on one side."
Hobby helped t Road Haula Association produ guidelines on how avoid tipping accidents. These are issu Free to RHA members for display in th traffic offices. Clive Warcup, an anim Feed transport specialist based in Driffiel East Yorkshire, says there is a danger relying too much on written informatio 'We hove a copy of the guidelines in o driving manual but the guys read that a six months later they have forgotten t contents."
He believes one of the most effecti ways of preventing tipper bodies coming contact with overhead power cables is have warning signs on the tipping control The signs are supplied by his loc electricity company. There is no legislation which specifical covers safety in loading and delivery are but the Management of Health and Safe at Work Regulations 1992 requir employers to assess and control worki activities which pose a risk to employee customers and the general public.
John Jubber, who heads the RH management services operation, so independent advice can be invaluable risk assessment. "Someone from outsi is able to take a far more objective vie than operational people who are ye close to it."
A one-day health and safety audit now available to RHA members whi Jubber says may result in reduce insurance premiums. Safely experts are increasingly drawl proving safety measures in the orkplace.
The HSE's Mike Sebastian says: "It is far etter to put in place some house rules iher than accept that one of your staff is ing to be off work for six weeks every or. You may get any agency driver in ho isn't as competent or as conscientious s your driver; there are all sorts of stretch way beyond the base cost of somebody being off work."
However, safety still remains a low priority For many companies.
A survey of 18 commercial vehicle operators found that nearly half of them failed to note where accidents had taken place. The research was conducted by the
University of Huddersfield, safety pressure group Brake, and insurance brokers and risk consultants Alexander and Alexander. Will Murray, senior lecturer at the university, says even recording near-misses could prove important. "You need to be able to work out what the pattern of accidents is and then use that data as a basis for making changes to the lay-out of the depot and the training of drivers."
I-11 by Guy Sheppard esco is making fundamental changes to its store delivery or after one of its workers was crushed to death by a reversing lorry.
Graham Denwood was guiding the lorry into an unloading bay at Whitehaven in Cumbria when he became trapped against a steel buffe post. He suffered a series of rib and pelvic fractures and died before reaching hospital.
Tesco's trade law controller Peter Bracher says the company's training manual already stated that staff should not stand where Denwood ha been.
Nevertheless, three key modifications are being made to Whitehaven and similar stores. The steel posts are being removed and traffic lights are being installed to guide lorries into the delivery area. The lights can only be controlled from inside the store building, avoiding the need to stand immediately behind the vehicle. The other change involves replacing Tarmac with a smoother concrete surface to make the movement of metal delivery cages easier; one reason the lorry was reversed so close to the building in Whitehaven was to avoid pushing the cages across the Tarmac on a freezing night.
Bracher says that risk assessment has been thoroughly reviewed this year by transport managers at all Tesco stores.
"What came out of that was that th risk of accident was much more likely from falling cages."
Trials are now being conducted to see whether small hinged ramps on the end of the tail-lift can be dispense with by constructing a small concrete step. This is designed to improve the stablility of the cages when being transferred from the trailer. Wheel guides and stops would also be constructed to ensure the vehicle was in the right position. These would als prevent the trailer getting too close to the building as happened in the accident at Whitehaven. • Every year, about 70 people are killed in workplace accidents involving vehicles, according to the HSE. More than 1,000 other people suffer injuries which require hospital treatment. The HSE leaflet 'Managing Vehicle Safety at the Workplace' provides employers with guidance on how to ensure vehicle movements, loading and unloading are carried out safely. In a haulage depot, this includes keeping vehicles and pedestrians safely apart, minimising reversing movements and keeping traffic routes free from obstructions.
The free leaflet together with more comprehensive guidance is available from HSE books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk C010 6FS
Tel: 01787 881165. Fax: 01787 313995