Keeping Your Drivers Safe on Premises

Driving safely on premises not only includes how your drivers operate on your own premises, it’s also about how they depart from your yard, plan their arrival/departure and follow the rules and regulations at the destination premises.

There are many risks that need to be considered and these should be shared with your drivers in order to reduce the risk of them being in a collision as they go about their daily business.

So, what exactly should you consider when planning a delivery to a customer’s premises?

  • Safe access from the road onto the premises

  • Suitability of vehicle and equipment required for loading/unloading

  • Premises speed limits and systems

  • Safe parking of vehicles at premises

Taking these into account will enable you to provide delivery instructions, which have considered how drivers will mitigate risks to every premises they visit.

Mitigating Risk

Have you trained drivers in safe procedures to mitigate the dangers when making deliveries to and collections from premises?

If not, you should provide a delivery instruction plan for each set of premises, and ask your drivers to complete these simple steps to ensure they remain safe:

  • Frequently check blind spots whilst driving on-premises

  • Be vigilant for the mix of users there could be whilst on-premises, vehicles, fork-lift trucks and pedestrians

  • Have safe procedures for working with Banksmen and use Banksmen when reversing

  • Vehicles are secured when left/parked up

  • Be polite and to premises staff and heed their specific site advice

The Dangers of Complacency

Complacency can settle in if your drivers are familiar with premises and this can easily lead to damage to their vehicle, the load, the premises or injuries to staff.

To stop this, remind them to be alert to the dangers and hazards of the premises, manoeuvring carefully, slowly and smoothly, for their safety, and the safety of those working at the premises.

Without a high level of care the potential for fatal and serious injury collisions is great.

This is borne out by the annual fatality and serious injury statistics on business premises, where almost 20% of all deaths at work are caused by moving vehicles*.

Your drivers cannot be too careful, and you cannot overstate the facts to your drivers to ensure they remain safe, and keep others safe, when on-premises.

Road Skills Online Professional Development Plan

We believe that regular driver training can help to improve driver’s behaviour on the road, helping you to save ££££’s on your bottom line. One of the monthly Toolbox Talks in our Professional Development Plan is Driving On-Premises, it’s designed to remind your drivers of what they need to know.

Let our online driver training help you deliver Toolbox Talks to your drivers with ease. It’s a great tool and at £5.00 or less per user, per month, it won’t break the bank. What’s more, you can get a Free Trial to test it out, just click below to get started.

Save time, save money and keep your drivers safe on the road, it’s a win-win for everybody.

Source | HSE

Published | July 2020