Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Safe drivers
Safe people in general
Health and Safety
Executive
621 In a study of deaths and injuries involving site dumpers, less than half of the
employers had bothered to check the drivers’ competence.
622 By law, you must take account of your employees’ capabilities regarding
health and safety when you give them tasks.
623 The law also requires that employers must make sure employees are given
adequate training to ensure health and safety:
n when they are recruited; and
n when they are exposed to new or increased risks in the workplace.
624 Only authorised drivers should be allowed to drive workplace vehicles.
Figure 40 Lift-truck operator looking backwards while reversing
625 Employers’ procedures for recruitment, checking references, induction,
training, supervision, auditing and assessing competence should make sure that
workers are fit to operate the machines and attachments they use at work, in all of
the environments in which they are used.
626 We recommend that the same (or higher) standards that are needed to
drive on public roads should apply to choosing people employed to drive in the
workplace:
n with a few exceptions, people in the UK must be aged 17 or over and have
passed a driving test;
n drivers of large or heavy goods vehicles must, with certain exceptions, be aged
21 or over and have passed the appropriate test.
627 It is important to stress to drivers the risks of unsafe working such as driving
too fast, turning too sharply or driving on unsuitable ground or slopes.
628 Drivers will often need many more skills than simply controlling a vehicle
when it is moving. Many vehicles used in the workplace have very specialised
attachments to do their jobs, and there are many other skills relating to loading,
unloading, trimming, sheeting and so on.
629 Every driver, particularly younger or less experienced drivers, should be
instructed to drive and to carry out other work responsibly and carefully.
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