Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Health and Safety
Executive
593 Serious and fatal accidents have been caused by poor maintenance or the
failure of door locks, or failure of the parts that secure demountables to vehicles.
594 ‘Jogging’ is where drivers reverse and brake hard to free blocked material
from skips. Avoid this because it can lead to too much wear to the parts securing
the containers, leading to their failure and the uncontrolled release of the container
itself.
595 You can find more information on risks during tipping, some design
considerations and suggestions for safe systems of work in chapter Tipping.
596 You should instruct and train drivers and operators to regularly inspect bins,
doors and restraining devices and to report faults.
597 You must check that faults are put right and provide a maintenance system
for skips and containers. Keep a record of the checks carried out and any resulting
action.
598 Several fatal accidents have involved skip or bulk loader runaways during
loading or tipping activities.
599 Accidents have happened where the twist-lock fixings which secure shipping
containers to transporters have not been properly released before trying to lift the
container clear of the vehicle. This can result in the vehicle being lifted with the
container, and can be very dangerous.
600 Lifting-machinery operators should not begin to move containers until ground
workers have confirmed that all of the locks have been released. Ground workers
should not provide this signal until they are confident that it is correct.
Maintenance, repair and retrofitting
601 By law, every employer must make sure that work equipment is maintained in
an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.
602 Our publication Health and safety in motor vehicle repair 21 provides guidance
on safe working practices for maintaining motor vehicles.
603 It is important that vehicles are maintained so that they are mechanically in
good condition.
Case study 10
A shunt driver fell from a lorry cab because of a faulty door. He hit his head
on a concrete floor at his company’s depot and died some days later from
his injuries.
The company had failed to deal with the faulty handle because of a
‘systemic failure’ in the company’s vehicle checks. The shunt vehicles were
treated as low priority for repairs and maintenance, and vehicle servicing
was often late.
The company was fined £150 000 and ordered to pay £21 000 in costs. Since
the accident, new vehicles have been bought and maintenance improved.
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