Reasons given for H&S rules

[captain_caveman_76]

robroy:

toonsy:

rob22888:
Try Amazon at Altrincham, not allowed to even walk in the yard without an ■■■■■■ following you. Also have to hand in your keys and sit in the waiting room when waiting for your load…when your solo Don’t think about sneaking back to your cab because the drivers waiting area is locked.

Anything like the others it’ll have like a caged area you can access via waiting room similar to those in airports etc

Makes not a [zb] of difference in my eyes mate, the point is some [zb] locking you in a waiting room is plain WRONG …end of.
(not to mention most probably illegal )
I don’t know how the bastds get away with it tbh, we are delivering their goods, what are we now? Hostages? …Criminals ?
Downright liberty imo.

Almost certainly illegal from a fire safety point of view. Who’s detailed to unlock the drivers in the event of a fire or do they just leave them there to burn? Would love to see that one challenged.

(Apologies if I’ve misquoted anyone, twas an accident).

[robroy]

Captain Caveman 76:

robroy:

toonsy:

rob22888:
Try Amazon at Altrincham, not allowed to even walk in the yard without an ■■■■■■ following you. Also have to hand in your keys and sit in the waiting room when waiting for your load…when your solo Don’t think about sneaking back to your cab because the drivers waiting area is locked.

Anything like the others it’ll have like a caged area you can access via waiting room similar to those in airports etc

Makes not a [zb] of difference in my eyes mate, the point is some [zb] locking you in a waiting room is plain WRONG …end of.
(not to mention most probably illegal )
I don’t know how the bastds get away with it tbh, we are delivering their goods, what are we now? Hostages? …Criminals ?
Downright liberty imo.

Almost certainly illegal from a fire safety point of view. Who’s detailed to unlock the drivers in the event of a fire or do they just leave them there to burn? Would love to see that one challenged.

(Apologies if I’ve misquoted anyone, twas an accident).

It’s just like every other injustice, liberty, and ■■■■ take put on us all in this job, by various wonkers in different genres of authority mate.
If drivers are daft enough and docile enough just to go along with it without any question, complaint, or resistance.(as they usually are )it will just continue.

[banker]

robroy:
I wish that these pricks who think up pseudo H&S rules would at least make up a reason or excuse for them, if only to make themselves look credible.

Pulled into a Travis Perkins site, had not got my arse out of the cab until I got …
‘‘Hi viz driver’’
I said
‘‘Give me a chance mate, to I open my side cupboard to find it’’.
…answer ‘‘Most drivers wear them in cab while driving’’…
my answer
‘‘No mate most dicks who don’t mind looking that way wear them while driving’’

‘‘Can you put a hard hat on please driver’’
to which I looked around and saw absolutely nobody else wearing one, but I just said nothing in case I talked myself out of getting tipped.

Anyway, put some milk in the microwave to sit back with a latte, just got my foot on dash checking my phone out when another young kid says…
‘‘You can’t sit in your cab driver’’
I says ‘‘Why exactly’’ ,
‘‘Health and Safety’’ says the kid,
‘‘Yeh but they are just words, why can’t I’’
‘‘Dunno’’ says the kid.

I just bit my tongue, picked up my coffee and sat in the nearest office, and tbf the guy in there made me welcome enough, but you know what I mean eh? …Ffs.!

Its called the claim culture so company’s have to cover themselves
You are not even a number anymore you are an object that needs to follow there rules
We don’t need common sense anymore soon for any drop you are due to go too you will get an email or text or get it with your paper work at start of shift to tell you what you must not do on site and what you must do on site and all the crap that goes with it
Its as close to machines doing the job now as you will get before the other thing ie driverless trucks gets here

[uktramp]

I most certainly would not be locked in a room, I cannot understand how anyone could go along with this. It certainly makes you think what the powers at be think to lorry drivers by doing this. I assume it is only the drivers that get locked up and not their own staff. My god to what depth can this job sink…

[captain_caveman_76]

robroy:
It’s just like every other injustice, liberty, and ■■■■ take put on us all in this job, by various wonkers in different genres of authority mate.
If drivers are daft enough and docile enough just to go along with it without any question, complaint, or resistance.(as they usually are )it will just continue.

They haven’t met me yet. I’m the same as beavis in that I won’t stand for crap, I just use fewer swear words!

[andrewg]

robroy:
Anything like the others it’ll have like a caged area you can access via waiting room similar to those in airports etc

Makes not a [zb] of difference in my eyes mate, the point is some [zb] locking you in a waiting room is plain WRONG …end of.
(not to mention most probably illegal )
I don’t know how the bastds get away with it tbh, we are delivering their goods, what are we now? Hostages? …Criminals ?
Downright liberty imo.
[/quote]
You forgot Rob…also degrading by the sounds of it.
Although we do the same run week in week out (mostly) theres no hi viz requirement I dont even possesss steelies or hard hat. Our yard is H&S free, we have incoming freight from all over europe,FLT drivers moving stuff around, sometimes have the workshop guys repairing trailers in the goods yard,the trailer park signage reads ‘Do not apply trailer brake’ and a very fiesty guard dog running amok Is there ever an issue…never.
H&S seems to have eaten the Uk alive…

[win-stone]

robroy:
I wish that these pricks who think up pseudo H&S rules would at least make up a reason or excuse for them, if only to make themselves look credible.

Pulled into a Travis Perkins site, had not got my arse out of the cab until I got …
‘‘Hi viz driver’’
I said
‘‘Give me a chance mate, to I open my side cupboard to find it’’.
…answer ‘‘Most drivers wear them in cab while driving’’…
my answer
‘‘No mate most dicks who don’t mind looking that way wear them while driving’’

‘‘Can you put a hard hat on please driver’’
to which I looked around and saw absolutely nobody else wearing one, but I just said nothing in case I talked myself out of getting tipped.

Anyway, put some milk in the microwave to sit back with a latte, just got my foot on dash checking my phone out when another young kid says…
‘‘You can’t sit in your cab driver’’
I says ‘‘Why exactly’’ ,
‘‘Health and Safety’’ says the kid,
‘‘Yeh but they are just words, why can’t I’’
‘‘Dunno’’ says the kid.

I just bit my tongue, picked up my coffee and sat in the nearest office, and tbf the guy in there made me welcome enough, but you know what I mean eh? …Ffs.!

But is that not the problem? We, as drivers, are supposed to be quaking in our booties with the fear that we might not get tipped; I am sick to the back teeth with the whole H&S bo##ocks and increasingly find myself refusing ‘to conform’.
I was in a big depot a couple of weeks ago and got told to ‘hand your keys in at the office, drive’. I refused. When they kicked up fuss I asked, politely, for the house keys of the person in the office in exchange. When they asked why I pointed out that they were, effectively, asking me for my house keys and fair exchange, etc. I was allowed to keep my keys!

A couple of common ones:
‘Need a hard-hat, drive’.
‘Why? You’re not wearing one.’
‘H&S mate’
‘Fine. When everyone else here puts on a hard-hat, I’ll put one on. Until then…’

or

‘Need a Hi-Vis drive’
‘Why?’
‘So we can see you, mate.’
‘I’m 6 foot 9, weigh about 21 stones and I’m wearing a white t-shirt. Frankly mate, anyone who can’t f#cking see me needs a white stick!’

Number of times that I’ve not been tipped?

None. Zero. Zilch.

I’ll admit that there’s been a couple of times when I’ve left without getting tipped… the furthest I’ve ever got is about 2 miles before getting called back!

They want the goods and that’s all there is to it.
If we, as drivers, grew a pair and stood up to all the cr@p that gets thrown about under the banner of H&S, it would soon change.

[trunker08]

Win-stone,…big well done ,thought I was the only one , yes been there done that, ime a long time retired
but what a load of cobblers the job has turned in to?

[sixties_boy]

Two sides of the same coin;

HSE trying to stop employers injuring/killing their workers, read the HSE website regarding workers being crushed by trucks and FLT.

Solicitors and claims firms (including Unions) chasing claims against companies.

[win-stone]

Sixties boy:
Two sides of the same coin;

HSE trying to stop employers injuring/killing their workers, read the HSE website regarding workers being crushed by trucks and FLT.

Solicitors and claims firms (including Unions) chasing claims against companies.

Agreed; I would argue that No Win No Brains a##h@les are , almost certainly, the biggest causes of some of the H&S cr@p we get thrown at us.

Don’t get me wrong: I am all for H&S… what I object to – in the strongest possible way – is the total and unadulterated cr@p that gets thrown at drivers, in the name of 'H&S, which has zero to do with H&S and everything to do with some a-h@le with all the IQ of a retarded amoeba deciding that “Any driver not wearing a pink frilly nightie under his Hi-Vis” (or whatever other inanities the cretin comes up with) shouldn’t get tipped.

When I did my ADR ‘refresher’ recently, the instructor made the point that H&S had gone too far. As he said, when absolutely everything is H&S this, H&S that and H&S the other, people lose interest and begin to ignore everything… they become H&S ‘blind’ – in which case actual ‘proper’ H&S gets ignored and people get hurt,
Hi-Vis vests are a case in point: Because everyone (and often the dog too) is wearing Hi-Vis vests (including teacher escorted school kids in a ‘crocodile’) people are becoming Hi-Vis blind.

But it’s the ludicrousness of the situation; One of the previous posts was on about a driver being turned away because he didn’t have his Hi-Vis on in the cab when he entered the depot! Really? Really?? I’m sorry, but in which realm of fantasy is not wearing your Hi-Vis ----- in your own cab ----- a H&S issue??

Average Lorry… 50+ Feet long
13+ feet high
8 foot wide.
44 ton.

Average male in the UK…
5 foot 10 ish
13 stone.

Surely, if you can see the lorry moving then, by definition, there must be someone driving it. It would be less ludicrous to insist that the lorry should be wearing a Hi-Vis!!

As I previously said, it’s only when we all stand up to the amoebas that things will change!

[conor]

UKtramp:
I have got quite used to the farms relaxed view of H&S rules which is a refreshing change.

Quite interesting that they rate as the most dangerous workplace in the UK. I wonder if there’s a correlation there somewhere…

[windrush]

Nothing new about this, back in the 90’s we had to wear Hi Viz and hard hats on sites and in quarries while still in the cab. Even had to wear hats while doing surfacing work on Motorways etc, I suppose to protect us from falling aircraft? I remember wearing an orange coat with silver stripes that my brother gave me (a rail maintenance workers jacket) and the quarry manager telling me that it wasn’t allowed in the quarry as yellow was the recognized colour and I wasn’t visible enough to dumper drivers etc. I told him that if it was good enough for High speed trains seeing workers then dumper drivers should have no problems and anyway he spotted me easily enough, his reply was “I saw you because you stood out from the lads wearing yellow”!! Obviously not visible enough then?

Pete.

[kcrussell25]

Conor:

UKtramp:
I have got quite used to the farms relaxed view of H&S rules which is a refreshing change.

Quite interesting that they rate as the most dangerous workplace in the UK. I wonder if there’s a correlation there somewhere…

I grew up on a farm. The main risk was a combination of dangerous machinery and lone working for endless hours. An accident that could be survived if help was there in a factory etc becomes fatal when you are alone and bleed out or go into shock

[rob22888]

andy187:
If it’s Amazon near airport every time I’ve been there door isn’t locked and smoking area right next to door.

Sent from my HTC One A9 using Tapatalk

I feel I should clarify… you are locked in the drivers ‘area’ not a room. They installed a fence around the smoking shelter stopping you going in the yard, it’s got one of those magnetic locks only the staff can open with a fob.

[santa]

It’s easy to take the mick; not so easy to write rules.

Most would agree that having drivers wandering about a busy yard in camouflage is a bad idea. The obvious solution is to have a rule that says everyone must make themselves visible. Simple rule = Everyone wears a high viz vest or jacket. If you tried to make exceptions for people in white shirts, you would have to specify how white - is light grey/dirty white okay? If drivers in the cab are exempt, you can be sure one will forget when nipping over to the bog for a leak. All these rules have to be written to make it difficult to get around them.

Yes, it’s true that some take it too far, and I did get a trifle annoyed when I was shouted at once for not walking on the designated walkway (not a bad idea in itself) but the shouter was a guy in a suit with no high-viz and standing well away from the walkway.

[kyoung]

toonsy:
Getting back on track I once got tokd a particular site was hard hat only when I entered it. So I was a good boy and put it on whilst doing the curtains then retreating back to my cab (without keys) to look at a stop lollipop until requested to move curtains again.

In the safety of my cab I took my hat off onky seconds later for there to be furious parping of a forklift horn. I was then told by the driver who wasn’t wearing a hard hat that it’s a hard hat only site. What? Even in my cab? Yeah mate it’s in case something falls on you. I said if something is going to fall on me and crush the cab I’m not sure a hard hat will help mate…

I said exactly the same airside at heathrow airport whilst delivering bitumen emulsion to terminal 2.
Told the H&S bod “will it stop the fiery inferno” as a nother fully fuelled 747 barrelled down the adjacent runway.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[winseer]

H&S rules usually make sense when rolled out the same everywhere, with the only “different-from-normal” rules being because of local geography, such as “don’t drive too close to the bottom fence, there’s a 300ft cliff behind it!” or “Do not mark on the unbarriered railway line”. etc.

The worst rules are the ones that add to driver endangerment, whilst not actually achieving anything sensible nor useful when followed to the letter.

Eg.

“Do not take your break on the bay. You must sit in the cooler with the other hairy-arsed drivers from around the universe, even if you’ve handed your keys in, and it’s downhill onto the bay. If you’re here six hours, and you’re knackered just as it’s time to leave - you must not pull up on the service road outside neither!”

Had a nodding dog scare the other night on the A14 that I’ll blame on “not being able to take my break when I wanted to”)

If you’re the driver of the orange Warburtons Luton box, near Newmarket, then thanks for the toot!

[wheel_nut]

I remember a customer in Scotland who had two deliveries a day from Hull. We normally left at 1am or 7am arriving at 8am or 2pm. Years ago a driver had suffered a heart attack and died in his cab. Result, ban drivers sleeping on site, this meant not a having 40 winks at the wheel or sleeping in the bottom yard once tipped. This was policed by H&S.

How can this be safety or good for health?

[109lwb]

windrush:
Nothing new about this, back in the 90’s we had to wear Hi Viz and hard hats on sites and in quarries while still in the cab. Even had to wear hats while doing surfacing work on Motorways etc, I suppose to protect us from falling aircraft? I remember wearing an orange coat with silver stripes that my brother gave me (a rail maintenance workers jacket) and the quarry manager telling me that it wasn’t allowed in the quarry as yellow was the recognized colour and I wasn’t visible enough to dumper drivers etc. I told him that if it was good enough for High speed trains seeing workers then dumper drivers should have no problems and anyway he spotted me easily enough, his reply was “I saw you because you stood out from the lads wearing yellow”!! Obviously not visible enough then?

Pete.

Had almost exactly the same at a quarry I went too. I had my full high vis garb on, trousers, jacket except they were standard yellow, and a white helmet. I usually don’t wear any of it, but I know quarries are usually pretty hot on it.
I wander into the office and get told I can’t go on site until I have the correct safety gear.
Turns out they wear orange and white helmets are reserved for the first aiders… (not sure why mot green like is standard pretty much everywhere else).

I said, well I don’t have another helmet and I only have yellow high vis gear, so you either let me in as I am, kit me out or I leave.

They gave me a brand new (green) helmet, trousers and jacket… still have them to this day.

[gasgas]

I once went on my motorcycle to visit a London Buses garage on my motorbike, which I parked well out of the way before walking to the building.

On my way out, I was told that I would have to be helped across the road to my bike because buses “sometimes came in and out of the garage.”

Wow…if I couldn’t cope with that how would I survive riding my motorbike on the North Circ?