Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Health and Safety
Executive
495 Lighting must not be a nuisance to the local environment, so this might
influence where you put the lighting and how strong it is. You can get advice about
this from your local authority Environmental Health department.
496 Glare from the sun can sometimes be a problem for drivers, so you may need
measures to avoid this (for example, sun visors).
497 You may also need measures to avoid sudden changes in lighting levels – for
example, when moving from a dark warehouse to a bright day, or from a dark night
to a strongly lit building. Moving too quickly from bright to darker areas (and from
dark to brighter areas) makes it hard to see, and can make closed-circuit television
(CCTV) systems much less effective, as they can take time to adjust to different
lighting levels. Our guide Lighting at work 17 provides more guidance about how to
arrange lighting to allow for the change between differently lit areas.
Site-based access to vehicles
498 Vehicle activities that mean workers need access to different parts of vehicles
are quite common. Apart from loading and unloading, workers may need access to
parts of vehicles in order to clean them, trim aggregate loads and manually sheet
loads, and so on.
499 This section deals with the site-based structures used for accessing parts of
different vehicles as they pass through the site. The advantage of these structures
is that they are directly under the control of the site.
500 The main types of structure are platforms and gantries.
501 Most platforms are simple drive-through or drive-past structures. Although
designs with three fixed sides are sometimes used, they should be avoided, as
vehicles need to reverse to use them.
502 If a three-sided structure is going to be used, you can avoid the need for
reversing by making the end platform moveable. The vehicle can drive in forwards
between the two fixed side platforms, and then the end platform can be replaced
and secured behind the vehicle. As with other mobile work platforms, these should
only be used once a competent person has checked it is safe to do so.
503 Drivers need to be able to pull up very closely alongside the platform to prevent
falls between the side of the vehicle and the edge of the platform.
504 Platforms do have some disadvantages:
n if workers need access to vehicles of different sizes, platforms may be a
problem because they are usually a fixed height, so cannot be changed to
match the heights of different vehicles;
n drive-through platforms are also usually a fixed width and so can’t be made to
match the widths of different vehicles.
505 Gantries can be more suitable where lots of different sized vehicles are
expected, because they are useful for a wider range of vehicle sizes.
506 A gantry would normally be a small platform with an overhead beam reaching
over the vehicle. A harness system is attached to the beam. The worker will stand
on the load or vehicle, but the system will help prevent the danger of the worker
falling a long way. The system is likely to be either of the ‘work-restraint’ type
(which will prevent the worker from approaching a dangerous area like the edge of
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