Safety Alert: Working safely with visiting drivers

 

Two external HGV drivers attending a steel and metals terminal positioned their flatbed vehicles for loading of 10m x 2.5m x 20mm steel plate. Two terminal employees (a forklift truck driver and signaller/banksman) began the loading operation.

 

The plates had been loaded on the first flatbed. A final lift was made to allow adjustment of a timber bearer which had fallen on its side. One HGV driver adjusted the bearer by hand whilst the load was suspended by the forklift. His finger became trapped and was injured.

 

Lessons

• No vehicle should be (un)loaded by forklift unless all persons are in a position of safety.
• HGV drivers should be aware of and go to a safe position during the operation. This might be in their cab or designated safe zone, which is visible to the forklift driver and supervisor, signaller/banksman.
• No one should approach the trailer unless the forklift has fully withdrawn, the (un)loading operation has ceased and permission has been granted by the appropriate person (e.g.) by the supervisor, signaller/banksman.
• If a bearer requires adjustment, the forklift must withdraw the load fully and not approach again until all persons involved have returned to a place of safety under supervision.
• Everyone should be empowered to ‘Stop the Job’ and intervene if they see any contraventions of the safe systems of work.
• Square profile bearers would have eliminated the possibility of the bearer falling over and need to approach the operation.
• Visiting drivers should be made aware of the safety arrangements that apply to them.

 

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ICHCA International is committed to helping industry to learn lessons fast, learn them once and make sure that they stay learnt. This information is intended to provide all organisations in the cargo supply chain with the opportunity to consider the events and to review and adapt their own health and safety control measures to proactively prevent future incidents.

We are grateful to the for Port Skills & Safety and Peel Ports for providing details and for raising awareness. We acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others. If you have similar operations, please share this information with managers, operatives and any potentially affected third parties as appropriate. Please also review any of your relevant operations for similar hazardous conditions, risks, and controls. Learning content like this is highly valuable as it is based on real-world experience. We encourage everyone with publishable information about incidents to send it to us, so that we can raise awareness across the whole industry. Please contact us at secretariat@ichca.com; sharing your insight could save a life or prevent injury.