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Take measures to ensure accidents can be avoided in your workplace

Risk Prevention

Employers have a legal responsibility to assess the working environment and to take steps to reduce the risk of physical or mental harm to their employees. When working on your risk assessment it’s important to think about both internal and external factors that may affect the chances of an accident. It’s a good idea to include provisions for the daily changes in the work environment; such as the weather and the presence of visitors or contractors.

Some risks cannot be completely eliminated, but everything possible should be done to identify and minimise them. By doing so, you develop your control measures; a series of actions that can be taken to reduce the danger to your workforce.

Control Measures

The control measures you develop can be as varied as the dangers themselves. Steps can be taken to isolate hazards including the use of barriers, cones and guard rails. You can also highlight areas of risk by increasing visibility using products such as lighting, traffic mirrors and safety signs. Another great control measure is to ensure all your employees have received effective training and know how to respond should an accident occur.

A risk assessment isn’t something that should be completed once and then forgotten about. It should be an ongoing effort by everybody in your organisation, with all employees remaining vigilant to the presence of dangers that surround them. Making sure that you keep a detailed and accurate record of all identified risks and control measures can be invaluable in helping to identify potential new risks.

Loading Bay Safety

Special attention should be given to the safety in and around loading bays as they are among the most dangerous for workplace transport operations (source: HSE). Although there is no specific regulatory framework for loading bay safety, there is legislation to ensure operators load and unload goods safely.

One of the main concerns surrounding loading bays is premature drive-off or “vehicle creep”, where a vehicle or trailer moves away from the loading area too early. When this happens there is a risk that the operator, forklift truck or goods being loaded can fall between the loading dock and vehicle.

Vehicles can even creep away from the loading bay while the handbrake is applied. This can happen due to the vehicle rocking on its suspension when goods are loaded or due to uneven surfaces around the loading bay.

Another potential hazard to factor to consider in your risk assessment is whether the loading vehicles are at risk of tipping forward when too much weight is placed towards the front of the trailer. “Trailer tip” generally occurs when a trailer is detached from the vehicle and its landing legs are lowered and can be the result of the products being loaded or the machinery being used to load them.

Thankfully Seton can help you to combat both of these hazards with our Parking Blocks & Kerbs and our range of Vehicle Accessories.

Lighting and Visibility

Employers are required by law to ensure that the site is sufficiently well lit so that operators can work safely (source: HSE) and your risk assessment should reflect this. Special attention should be given to areas that may be impacted by strong changes to natural lighting, such as working outdoors in winter months or when workers are moving from a well lit area into the back of a trailer while loading.

Outside signage needs to remain visible at all times, especially in darkness and during adverse weather conditions. This can be achieved either through lighting or by using reflective Class RA1 or Class RA2 Signage. It’s also essential that all vehicles being used on site use their lights during darkness; which not only aids detection of other vehicles and employees but makes them easier to see as well.

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (1992) requires that all those working in and around a loading bay area to wear suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As a general rule, the darker the conditions or worksite, the greater the amount of High Visibility Clothing required (source: HSE).

Impact Protection

With 16% of all reported workplace injuries caused by people and objects being struck by a moving vehicle (source: HSE), it’s imperative that the dangers associated with them are factored into your risk assessment.

A well designed loading bay will have enough space for vehicles to maneuver safely and for workers to be able move around them in the same space. Control measures should be put in place to ensure that anyone who is not involved in the loading and unloading of goods is kept away from the loading bay area in order to prevent a major accident on site.

Physical barriers should be installed where necessary to provide pedestrian walkways away from the loading bay. Products such as our Bollards, Traffic Cones and Temporary Safety Barriers can greatly assist in ensuring vehicles and people do not cause injury to one another.

Impact Protection products can also be used to limit the extent of the damage should an accident occur involving either a vehicle, pedestrian or plant machinery. Special consideration should be given to building and loading bay entrances that may come into contact with a vehicle or other plant equipment.

Communication

Not only can areas of your workplace pose significant risk to your employees, but the dangers can be amplified when those not familiar with your site are present such as visitors, lorry drivers, courier companies and even members of the public.

It is essential that you provide relevant Safety Signage and Floor Markings to instruct and assist visitors to your premises and to inform them of safety measures or hazards on site. Whether it’s keeping pedestrians away from vehicle traffic, informing them of fire evacuation points or simply providing good way-finding around your workplace; safety signs can massively increase site safety with minimal effort.

Your risk assessment should aim to ensure that these signs remain clear and visible in darkness and adverse weather conditions and any signage and markings on site should be regularly reviewed to ensure they still remain relevant to the hazard.