제  목 : MANAGING VEHICLE SAFETY AT THE WORKPLACE Leaflet for employers
  일  자 : 1998년 09월
  제공처 : Internet

       MANAGING VEHICLE SAFETY AT THE WORKPLACE Leaflet for employers
       ==============================================================


 [ Contents ]

 Introduction
 Accidents - Numbers, Costs and Causes
 The legal duties
 What do you actually need to do ?
 Checklist
 Sources of further information
 Publications Order Form

  [Introduction]

 This leaflet is addressed to you as an employer. It offers simple advice and
 guidance to help you ensure that vehicle movements at the workplace, and
 activities such as loading, maintenance etc are carried out safely.

 It applies to any vehicle or piece of mobile equipment which is used by
 employers, employees, self-employed people or visitors in any work setting
 (apart from travelling on public roads). This covers a very wide range of
 familiar vehicles, for example cars and vans, lift trucks, heavy goods
 vehicles, dumpers etc, as well as less common vehicles and plant.

 The leaflet should be useful for all workplaces where vehicles are used. For
 workplaces such as construction sites, quarries, farms, forestry operations
 etc, you should refer to specific guidance on dealing with the particular
 conditions and hazards in these industries (see further information section
 for further details).

 [Accidents - Numbers, Costs and Causes]

 Every year about 70 people are killed in accidents involving vehicles at the
 workplace. In addition, there are more than 1000 major injuries, ie accidents
 which result in broken bones, amputations etc. These accidents usually involve
 people being struck or run over by moving vehicles, people falling from
 vehicles, people being struck by objects falling from vehicles (usually part
 of the load) or vehicles overturning.

 Cars and other types of vehicle are extremely common, both on public roads and
 at workplaces. Consequently employers and employees often do not recognise -
 until a serious accident actually happens - that vehicle activities can be
 very dangerous, and need to be properly managed to ensure a safe workplace.

 [The Legal Duties]

      Employers have a duty to provide a safe workplace, to provide and
      maintain safe systems of work, and to take all reasonably practicable
      precautions to ensure the safety of their workers and members of the
      public who might be affected by their activities.

      To underpin this, employers must carry out a 'risk assessment'. They
      need to:

   - assess the risks to their workers and anyone else, for example
    members of the public, arising from their work activities; and

   - determine what measures they need to take to ensure a safe workplace
    and safe working practices and to comply with their legal duties.

   - Where two or more employers share a workplace, each employer must
    co-operate with the other employers and take all reasonable steps to
    co-ordinate the measures they take to comply with their legal
    duties.

   - All employees must take care of their own and others' safety and
    co-operate with management in meeting their obligations.

 What do you actually need to do ?


     The following paragraphs give advice on how you, as an
     employer, might carry out a risk assessment, with examples
     relating to workplace transport. (The checklist on the
     following pages provides a guide to some of the main points
     to consider.)

 Five steps have been identified to help you assess the risks systematically.

    1.First, you need to identify the hazards associated with vehicle
      activities at the workplace. To do this, look at each of the work
      activities associated with vehicles, for example the arrival and
      departure of vehicles, their movement within the workplace, work on
      loading and unloading etc, and ask: What are the dangers, and what is
      causing those dangers? For example:

   - Is there a danger of people being struck or run over by vehicles and
    what is the cause?

   - Is there a danger of people falling from vehicles, for example while
    gaining access to or alighting from the vehicle or while involved in
    loading/unloading or other activities, and what is the cause?

    2.You should then identify who might be harmed by each of the hazards. This
      is likely to include drivers, other employees, customers and possibly
      members of the public

    3.Then, for each hazard, you should evaluate the risks, ie the likelihood
      that harm will occur and its severity, and assess whether existing
      precautions are adequate or whether more precautions are needed. In
      effect, you should ask: Have suitable measures been taken to reduce this
      risk, and are the measures adequate? If you decide that some risks have
      not been controlled well enough you will need to take steps to reduce
      them so far as is reasonably practicable.

    4.If you have fewer than five employees you do not need to record anything,
      but if you have five or more employees you must record the significant
      findings of your assessment. This means:

    recording, usually by writing down, the more significant hazards;
    and

    recording your most important conclusions, for example: Risk of
    collision as a result of blind bend: need to install fixed mirror on
    corner of building. You must also inform your employees of your
    findings.

    5.Sooner or later you will introduce new vehicles or change the traffic
      routes, or the nature of the work activities relating to vehicles will
      change, possibly leading to new hazards. Where there is a new hazard, the
      risk assessment will need revision. In any case, it is good practice to
      review the risk assessment from time to time to check that it is still
      relevant.

 [ Checklist ]

  The following checklist indicates things that you should
  look at when:

    1.trying to identify the hazards associated with vehicle
       activities; and

    2.assessing whether existing precautions are adequate.

  It also gives some common-sense ideas for reducing risks.
  The checklist will not necessarily be comprehensive or
  relevant for all work situations.

 The workplace

    1.Check that the layout of routes is appropriate for the vehicle and
      pedestrian activities at the workplace. For example:

    Are vehicles and pedestrians kept safely apart?

    Are there suitable pedestrian crossing points on vehicle routes?

    Are there suitable parking areas for all parking needs?

    Do the vehicle routes avoid sharp or blind bends?

    Is there scope for introducing a one-way system on vehicle routes
    within the workplace to reduce the risk of collisions?

    2.Check that vehicle traffic routes are suitable for the type and quantity
      of vehicles which use them. For example:

    Are they wide enough?

    Are they well constructed, ie do they have firm and even surfaces?

    Are they free from obstructions and other hazards?

    Are they well maintained?

    3.Check that suitable safety features are provided where appropriate. For
      example:

    Are roadways marked where necessary, eg to indicate the right of way
    at road junctions?

    Is there a need for direction signs, speed limit signs, and, where
    applicable, signs such as Give way, No entry etc?

    Is there a need for features such as fixed mirrors to provide
    greater vision at blind bends, road humps to reduce vehicle speeds,
    or barriers to keep vehicles and pedestrians apart?

      The vehicles

             Check that vehicles at your workplace are safe and
            suitable for the work for which they are being used.

      For example:

    Do they have suitable and effective service and parking brakes?

    Are they provided with horns, lights, reflectors, reversing lights
    and other safety features as necessary?

    Do they have seats and, where necessary, seat belts that are safe
    and allow for driver comfort?

    Are there guards on dangerous parts of the vehicles, eg power
    take-offs, chain drives, exposed exhaust pipes?

    Do drivers need protection against bad weather conditions, or
    against an unpleasant working environment, eg against the cold,
    dirt, dust, fumes, and excessive noise and vibration?

    Is there a safe means of access to and exit from the cabs and other
    parts that need to be reached?

    Is there a need for driver protection against injury in the event of
    an overturn, and to prevent the driver being hit by falling objects?

    4.Check that the vehicles are subject to appropriate maintenance
      procedures.

      For example:

    Do drivers carry out basic safety checks before using vehicles?

    Is there a regular preventive maintenance programme for each
    vehicle, carried out at predetermined intervals of time or mileage?

      Drivers and other employees


              Check that your selection and training procedures
            ensure that your drivers and other employees are
            capable of performing their work activities in a safe
            and responsible manner.

      For example:

    Do you check the previous experience of your drivers and test them
    to ensure that they are competent?

    Do you provide training on how to do the job and information about
    particular
    hazards ?

    Do you have a planned programme of refresher training for drivers
    and other employees to ensure their continued competence?

    5.Check what your drivers and other employees actually do when undertaking
      their work activities. For example:

    Do your drivers drive with care, eg use the correct routes, drive
    within the speed limit at the site and follow any other site rules?

    Do they park safely, and in safe locations?

    Are your employees using safe working practices, eg when
    loading/unloading, securing loads, carrying out maintenance etc?

    Do your drivers and other employees have to rush to complete their
    work on time, or is there a risk of accidents caused by fatigue as a
    result of excessive working hours?

    6.Check, in consultation with your employees, that your level of management
      control/ supervision is suitable. For example:

    Are your supervisors, drivers and other employees, including
    contractors and visiting drivers, aware of the site rules and aware
    of their responsibilities in terms of maintaining a safe workplace
    and safe working practices?

    Is everyone at the workplace supervised and held accountable for
    their responsibilities, and is a clear system of penalties enforced
    when employees, contractors etc fail to maintain standards?

      Vehicle activities

    7.Check that the need for REVERSING manoeuvres is kept to a minimum, and
      where reversing is necessary that it is undertaken safely and in safe
      areas. For example:

    Is there scope for introducing one-way systems on routes to reduce
    the need for reversing manoeuvres?

    Is there a need to identify and mark 'reversing areas' so that these
    are clear to both drivers and pedestrians?

    Can you exclude non-essential personnel from areas where reversing
    is common?

    Is there a need for a signaller (banksman) to direct reversing
    vehicles?

    Are there external side-mounted and rear-view mirrors on vehicles to
    provide optimum all-round visibility?

    Do the vehicles have reversing alarms?

    8.Check that drivers take care when PARKING their vehicles, including
      their own private cars, and that they park in safe locations. For
      example:

    Do your drivers use the designated parking areas?

    Do they always ensure that their vehicles and trailers are securely
    braked and secured before leaving them parked?

    9.Check that LOADING AND UNLOADING operations are carried out safely. For
      example:

    Are loading/unloading operations carried out in an area away from
    passing traffic, pedestrians and others not involved in the
    loading/unloading operation?

    Are loading/unloading activities carried out using safe systems of
    work on ground that is flat, firm and free from pot-holes?

    Are the vehicles braked and/or stabilised, as appropriate, to
    prevent unsafe movements during loading and unloading operations?

    Is the loading/unloading carried out so that, as far as possible,
    the load is spread evenly to avoid the vehicle or trailer becoming
    unstable?

    Are checks made to ensure that loads are secured and arranged so
    that they cannot move about, eg slide forward if the driver has to
    brake suddenly, or slide off if the vehicle has to negotiate steep
    inclines?

    Are there checks to ensure that vehicles are not loaded beyond their
    capacity?

 [ Further Information ]

 More comprehensive guidance is given in Workplace transport safety (HS(G)136,
 ISBN 0 7176 0935 9) available from HSE Books. It provides detailed advice to
 help those concerned with all forms of workplace transport to secure a safe
 workplace for vehicles and for pedestrians, and to comply with their health
 and safety responsibilities

 (see end of this document for order form which can be posted).

 Further HSE Publications

 Further advice and guidance is also available in the following HSC/E
 publications:

 Management of health and safety at work Approved Code of Practice L21 1992
 ISBN 0 7176 0412 8

 Successful health and safety management HSG65 1991
 ISBN 0 7176 0425 X

 Availability of HSE Publications

 HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from:

 HSE Books
 PO Box 1999
 Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS
 Tel: 0787 881165
 Fax: 0787 313995