Gavin Scarr Hall, Health & Safety Director at Peninsula, discusses employers’ legal duties regarding workplace transport and how they can minimise the risks of transport-related incidents.
Every year, workplace transport and the interaction between people and vehicles cause a significant number of serious accidents, accounting for around a quarter of all fatalities and reported workplace injuries.
Employers have a general duty to ensure that all workplace transport activities are carried out in a safe and healthy manner. To meet this requirement, they should be aware of the risks from transport and vehicle movements carried out in the course of their business, taking steps to eliminate, or reduce, these risks. Failure to do so can result in hefty fines and prosecution for businesses, as well as life changing consequences for the employees involved, and their families.
Conducting a risk assessment allows you to identify hazards created by workplace transport, identify who is at risk and consider whether existing safety measures control the risks in your business to an acceptable level. The risk assessment must consider several factors, including the workplace, driver, vehicle and tasks.
To ensure the safety of staff and visitors, there are a number of control measures that employers can put in place.
A good starting point is to consider the design and layout of your premises and any workplace activities that involve vehicle movements. Traffic routes must be wide enough to accommodate the largest vehicle you expect to use them, and the surface should be appropriate for any vehicles and pedestrians that use it. Traffic routes must be well-maintained and clearly outlined with suitable signage.
Around a quarter of all severe workplace transport injuries and fatalities are caused by reversing vehicles. The most effective way to prevent collisions when reversing is a one-way system. One-way systems are designed to minimise reversing and prevent conflicting movements that feature in a ‘two-way’ traffic flow. Ideally, a one-way system should operate in a clockwise direction around a site. This is the direction most drivers will anticipate, unless there are compelling reasons why this would not be the safest route.
It’s not just the workplace that needs to be compliant, but your drivers too. Check their licences to ensure that they are qualified for the class of vehicle you expect them to drive. It’s good practice to organise a planned programme of refresher training and check competencies from time to time, as well as provide on-the-job training and information about the particular hazards in your business.
Of course, the vehicles must also be safe and suitable for the work application; whether purchased or leased they should have all recommended safety features fitted. You should also ensure that regular preventive maintenance is carried out for each vehicle at predetermined intervals, as prescribed by the manufacturer or supplier, to keep it in good working order.
Whilst these measures aren’t exhaustive, they’re certainly a good starting point for minimising the risks of workplace transport within your organisation.
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