Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Health and Safety
Executive
Preventing falls from workplace
vehicles
Common risks
1009 Falls from vehicles are among the most common accidents involving
workplace transport.
1010 Falls can be caused by many things, such as:
n slipping and falling from loads and access steps and ladders;
n broken ropes or torn sheets causing overbalancing;
n inappropriate footwear;
n bad weather; or
n a lack of awareness and training.
1011 Even falling a short distance can be very serious, or even kill someone, so
you have a legal duty to try to prevent falls.
1012 By law, employers must take suitable and effective measures to:
n prevent anyone from falling a distance that is likely to hurt them; and
n prevent anyone from being hit by a falling object that is likely to hurt them.
1013 Where people working for different employers work in the same place, those
employers may have a legal duty to work together to make sure they are meeting
their legal responsibilities. See paragraphs 172-181 for more information about
shared workplaces.
1014 Your risk assessment should include things that might involve a person
climbing onto a vehicle or a structure for a transport-related activity. You should
remember to include irregular or less frequent activities involving someone getting
to less easily reached parts of the vehicle (such as the engine, exhaust stacks
or refrigeration units) for maintenance or other reasons. You should still consider
measures to deal with significant risks resulting from this work. See chapter
Managing the risks for more information about this.
1015 By law employers must consider a hierarchy of different ways of controlling
the risks from working at height so they choose the safest option for the work.
1016 Work in high places should be avoided wherever possible. You can do this
by using gauges and controls that are accessible from the ground. For example,
where a road tanker delivers fuel to a petrol station, the employer of the delivery
driver and the station operator should consider whether ‘dipping’ (which means the
driver must go onto the top of the vehicle) is necessary.
1017 Automatic sheeting systems (often known as ‘easysheets’) are another
example of an effective way of avoiding the need for workers to climb on vehicles.
See paragraphs 848-858 for more information about automatic sheeting systems.
1018 You should give permission to gain access onto vehicles only to people who
cannot avoid doing so.
Workplace transport safety Page 119 of 144