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Wherever employees on foot are in close proximity to, or share the same route or work area as, large vehicles employers should make sure that there is a clear separation between the two or safety precautions in place to avoid personal injuries and accident at work claims.
Employers are responsible for the health and safety of the individuals whom they employ, so in jobs in which the possibilities of suffering a workplace injury are high, employers should make changes to the environment so as to decrease these risks.
Workplaces, such as large building sites, landfill areas and places in which freight companies are located, often use large vehicles to aid the moving of loads that otherwise could not be handled due to their weight or size. Where there are large work vehicles, there is a higher risk of a pedestrian employee being hit or run over due to a driver's poor visibility of his surroundings.
HSE guide to large work vehicles
The Health and Safety Executive state that if large vehicles are in use on a work site, companies "need to make routes wide enough for them to manoeuvre safely and to pass each other with room to spare wherever possible".
Workplace transport managers should take into account a vehicle's size, manoeuvrability, and the standard of visibility that the driver has inside of the potential hazards outside.
During risk assessment, a transport manager should also be aware of whether the size and weight of a load is appropriate for the vehicle, and how easily the vehicle will be able to move about the work area with the load in question.
Importantly, the HSE say that if possible, routes that any large vehicles take should be organised in such a way that drivers do not have to reverse at any point. Drivers of large vehicles often have a much more restricted view to the rear, so risks of a colleague coming to harm after being hit or run over as a vehicle reverses are higher than when the driver is going forwards.
On sites where reversing is unavoidable, in order to decrease the risk of someone walking nearby getting seriously injured and making an accident at work claim as a result, the HSE provides some guidance.
To reduce the need for a large vehicle to reverse, a site can be organised in such a way that there are ring roads, drive-through loading and unloading positions, and parking areas which have an entrance on one side, and the exit on the other.
Dangers are not restricted to a vehicle having to drive backwards however, and to diminish possibility of accidents while driving forwards, visibility should be made as clear as possible on bends and turns for both pedestrians and drivers. Where there is poor visibility, signs, signals or one-way systems should be put in place.
Do you want to make a work accident claim?
If you have suffered a vehicle-related workplace injury which was not your fault, then our expert personal injury solicitors could help you receive 100% compensation for your pain, suffering and loss of earnings.
To contact us about your case and make a work accident claim, use our short online claim form, click the call me back or live help buttons, or simply phone us direct on 0800 10 757 95.
