An abnormal loads haulier has been fined £8,000 following an incident that saw one of its drivers catapulted from a powered access platform as it was being unloaded from his HGV.
On 7 April 2014, a driver employed by RC Robinson Haulage of Bedfordshire was unloading a 7-tonne piece of plant at the Israeli Embassy in Palace Green, London, when the equipment fell off the low-loader.
The driver had got into the extendable cage attached to the platform, used its controls to increase its height and attempted to drive it off the truck. However, the plant slipped on the low-loader’s wet metal ramps and came off the vehicle.
The plant and the driver landed on a grass verge, narrowly missing a member of the public. The driver, who has not been named, was thrown to the pavement and suffered a number of injuries including a broken pelvis and multiple broken ribs.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that the driver had not followed the correct loading and unloading procedures, which should have involved the use of the truck’s winch to lower the plant, rather than driving it off the vehicle.
On 10 June, Westminster Crown Court heard that the driver had not received sufficient training in the loading and unloading of such powered access platforms from the operator. Other drivers employed by the haulier had, however, received in-house training.
In a prosecution brought by the HSE, RC Robinson Haulage of the Ridgeway Business Park, Blunham, was fined £8,000 with £782 costs and a £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
HSE inspector Zameer Bhunnoo said the incident “could have resulted in the fatality of the driver” or passers by.
Bhunnoo said: “Haulage drivers usually work on their own and need to be able to rely upon their skills to carry out work safely. A key part of managing risk for firms is to make sure drivers are competent before they leave the gates of their depot.
“Had adequate training been provided, the incident would not have happened.”
Summing up: The driver should have followed the correct procedure when he unloaded equipment off a low-loader to prevent injury.
- This article appeared in the 25 June issue of Commercial Motor. Why not subscribe?
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