Workplace transport safety An employers' guide - ARRI Lighting Rental

Health and Safety
Executive
744 You should provide a safe place where drivers can wait if they are not involved.
See paragraphs 463-466 for more guidance about welfare provisions for visiting
drivers.
745 Information in this guide about sheeting and unsheeting will also be relevant,
both for making sure that loads are safely secured and that employees are working
safely.
746 Avoid the need for people to walk on top of vehicles or loads wherever
possible. No one should stand on a load once it is attached to lifting equipment
(such as cranes or a fork-lift truck).
Safe site
747 Vehicles reversing before loading or unloading are a major risk. If possible, remove
the need for reversing with ‘drive-through’ loading areas as part of an overall one-way
system.
748 Loading and unloading areas should be:
n clear of passing traffic, pedestrians and other people who are not involved in
loading or unloading;
n clear of overhead pipework or electricity cables so that there is no chance of
fouling them, or of electricity jumping to ‘earth’ through machinery, loads or
people; and
n level – to maintain stability, vehicles and their trailers should be on firm ground,
free from potholes or debris, which could make vehicles unstable.
749 See chapter A safe site for more information on organising a safe place for
loading and unloading.
750 Safety equipment may be needed. For example, guards or skirting plates may
be needed if there is a risk of anything being caught in machinery (such as dock
levellers or vehicle tail lifts).
751 Appropriate signs and road markings showing safety equipment, showing the
areas pedestrians are not allowed in, and alerting people to loading and unloading
operations should be in place and visible, wherever appropriate.
752 There should be safeguards against drivers accidentally driving away too early.
This does happen and can be extremely dangerous. See chapters A safe site and
Safe vehicles for advice about preventing ways to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Safe vehicles
753 The vehicle should be able to take the full weight of everything it is asked to
carry. This will include any loading or unloading machinery, such as a fork-lift truck
used to help unloading.
754 No vehicle should ever be loaded beyond its ‘rated capacity’ (the manufacturer
should provide this information) or its legal limit of gross weight if it is to be used on
public roads. Overloaded vehicles can become unstable and difficult to steer, or be
less able to brake.
755 Some parts of a vehicle can take more weight than others. Think about
how the different parts of a vehicle are arranged underneath the loading
surface. Where is there the most support for a load or for a piece of loading
machinery?
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