Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Case study 16
Health and Safety
Executive
A worker fell over 2 m from a pallet balanced on the forks of a lift truck.
Pallets of sacks were stored three high but had settled unevenly. This
sometimes made retrieving of the top sack difficult.
Using pallets raised on the forks of a lift truck as a work platform is
dangerous, and is a common cause of accidents in warehouses. Pallet
racking and a safer way of accessing the sacks should have been
provided.
Access should have been gained using a mobile elevated work platform,
a purpose-built and properly secured lift-truck working platform, or a
stepladder.
Safe drivers
1048 Employers should make sure that people working with vehicles are aware
of dangers and safety precautions, and monitor how vehicles are used wherever
practicable.
1049 No one should ever try to climb onto a moving vehicle.
1050 Passengers should only be allowed on a vehicle if it is designed to
accommodate them safely, with suitable seating and restraints.
1051 People climbing on vehicles should always use the ‘three-point hold’ rule.
See paragraph 1023 for more information.
1052 People walking on vehicles should always do so carefully, facing in the
direction they are walking and keeping their feet well apart and free to move. They
should pay attention to the stability and grip of the surfaces they are walking on.
1053 To keep their balance at all times, people working with vehicles should
not lean backwards, especially near the back of a vehicle (for example, during
sheeting).
Case study 17
An experienced LGV driver suffered head injuries when he fell
approximately 4 m from the top of a stack of pallets loaded on to a
flatbed trailer.
He had climbed on top of the load to release a snagged rope used for
securing the pallets.
A safe means of access to the top of the pallets should have been used,
for example a mobile elevated work platform.
Climbing on top of loads should be avoided whenever ‘reasonably
practicable’, and should not be attempted without appropriate
precautions. The employer is responsible for instructing employees on the
use of safe working practices.
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