I am seeking help from any drivers who have had a accident whilst climbing onto the back their unit to uncouple their trailer (DEF CF).
I have suffered extensive damage to my rotar cuff muscles in both my shoulders after slipping off the catwalk between the catwalk and deisel tank which I think is an accident blackspot.
I was off work for 5 weeks and after extensive physiotherapy now having to wait to see the specialist because I’m still having considerable pain after 9 months. I have been unable to claim through my union whilst being off work for 5 weeks they have put it down as an industrial injury.
I dont know whether you have any kind of claim, one of these ambulance chasers will no doubt be able to make up some kind of health risk and cause the health and safety bods to make even more stupid rules. Eventually they might get articulated vehicles banned because the driver has to climb more than 3 inches off the floor!
There is a catwalk with steps on the truck, or at least a grabrail and a trailer to hold onto.
Talk to your union REP and ask do the firm not have to do H&S assesment
on the actions carried out by the driver ,was youwearing safety shoes ,was the rear of the truck where you was connecting the airlines and other cables correctly outfitted with catwalks, did these cover the space
safely how big was the gap,check the H&S site also what about the VOSA SITE to see what they might say is required to compliy with the law
and regulations.
I am seeking help from any drivers who have had a accident whilst climbing onto the back their unit to uncouple their trailer (DEF CF).
I have suffered extensive damage to my rotar cuff muscles in both my shoulders after slipping off the catwalk between the catwalk and deisel tank which I think is an accident blackspot.
I was off work for 5 weeks and after extensive physiotherapy now having to wait to see the specialist because I’m still having considerable pain after 9 months. I have been unable to claim through my union whilst being off work for 5 weeks they have put it down as an industrial injury.
John Morris
Have you not heard of ACCIDENTS ? Anyone remember them? You know, where someoneisn’t to blame?
jonboy, what’s wrong with ‘split coupling’. The procedure now appears in the Driving Goods Vehicles manual and is accepted by the DSA on test?
some companys don’t allow it . it all depends on what the site risk assesment says.
is very clear at no point should split coupling be done at our place because of the risk of crush injuries. must of happened at one of wincantons sites as we had a memo soon afterwards.
so if a accident occurs while split coupling i wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
I work for Wincanton and we too were told not to split couple, so a few months ago when i was uncoupling i had an accident due to the trailers being VERY VERY close to the units i caught my knee on one of the cleat hooks that you wrap the tir cord round i had a night off as it was bloody sore and i never got paid for it.
Well if two of you are not permitted to carry out an operation that appears in a DSA training manual, then I would certainly enquire as to why, and if no satisfactory answer was received, implement the “Grievance Procedure” within the company.
Krankee:
jonboy, what’s wrong with ‘split coupling’. The procedure now appears in the Driving Goods Vehicles manual and is accepted by the DSA on test?
Because, whatever the manual says, it’s dangerous!
Whoever wrote the manual is no more an expert on risk assessment in transport operations than I am, or many others on here. I’ve been doing it for 40 years.
I was forced to employ this method with the frigo because there was no other practical way, but that doesn’t mean that I agree with it.
It’s all down to the stupid overall length laws we have in Europe. I’ve said it before but if they would only limit trailer length, our safety wouldn’t be compromised in this way.
Me too, I’ve only coupled/uncoupled that way for years and had one incident. That occurred when someone had swapped the trailer brake button for the shunt button and I didn’t notice, this caused me to assume the trailer brake was on when it wasn’t. The trailer rolled forward, when I put the red line on, but as I had raised the air suspension before connecting the lines it caught on the pin anyway so no harm done.
I know a guy who also gives out loud and long on the ‘dangers’ of split coupling and berates those of us who do it, but he never puts the trailer brake on when dropping a trailer the ‘normal’ way. He reckons he doesn’t need to so which is more dangerous?
Coffeeholic:
. The trailer rolled forward, when I put the red line on, but as I had raised the air suspension before connecting the lines it caught on the pin anyway so no harm done.
?
You make my case for me Coffee!
If there had been less space between cab and trailer when the pin caught you would have been crushed. Why take the chance unless you have to?
Coffeeholic:
. The trailer rolled forward, when I put the red line on, but as I had raised the air suspension before connecting the lines it caught on the pin anyway so no harm done.
?
You make my case for me Coffee!
If there had been less space between cab and trailer when the pin caught you would have been crushed. Why take the chance unless you have to?
Salut, David.
Because if you do it properly you’ve got nothing to worry about ! Neil’s case isn’t just applicable to split-coupling. The same thing could have happened when coupling normally if the shunt and trailer brake buttons had been swapped about.
The first thing I do after connecting the red is watch the ground for a few seconds to make sure we don’t start moving. If we do then the red comes back off as quick as it went on!
Spardo:
You make my case for me Coffee!
If there had been less space between cab and trailer when the pin caught you would have been crushed. Why take the chance unless you have to?
I beg to differ David, there was exactly the same space as there would have been had I not chosen to split couple, so what is the difference. There isn’t one, if I had been using the old method I would have been trying to work in a confined space so surely it is better to have more room to work? My point was that as long as you follow the proper procedures, even if something goes wrong because you have done it correctly no harm is done.
It doesn’t matter what method you use to pick up or drop a trailer, if you don’t do it properly it is dangerous. See my comment about the person who never uses the trailer brake. I don’t think split coupling is any more dangerous than the other way and in fact I think it is safer because you are not squeezing into a small gap and I will continue to use this method, the only method I have used for years.
Now look what you have done David, you have got me agreeing with Rob again.
Thinking about it. Somerfield, Aschurch, have their own trainers, and use ‘reefers’ for driving tests, and use ‘Split Coupling’, and it is also a Wincanton site.
To open the debate further, any thoughts on ‘hitting the shunt button, jacking the unit round, and THEN coupling the lines’…■■?
Rob K:
[. The same thing could have happened when coupling normally if the shunt and trailer brake buttons had been swapped about.
!
How do you work that out? If the outfit had been coupled normally the pin would have been locked in the jaws before anyone climbed into the gap and started connecting suzies. Thus no chance of a disaster.
What concerns me is that split coupling works fine as long as the procedure is followed - as you have said. But from time to time something distracts the attention and a stage is missed even though the method has been carried out a thousand times before. I once coupled to a trailer (normally) with a faulty trailer brake and was horrified while on the back of the chassis to see the ground slowly moving past. For the first time in about 30 years on artics I had left the cab without setting the handbrake. Can’t explain it to this day, but for it to happen just when picking up an unbraked trailer is a chance in a million. Easily done.
All I’m saying is, why take the risk? Unless, as I said before, you’re forced by lack of space.
Up till now I’ve concentrated my objections on the safety of the driver, but also concerning is the fact that you are releasing at least one braking system (the red line) with the trailer uncoupled. If the second system (trailer brake) is faulty, not set, or non existent, there is a good chance that you shove the trailer away from you with consequences at least expensive and at worst fatal for someone caught in the way.
Even at Gauthier with the frigo I defied all my mates by split coupling up to a point but then (with difficulty) climbing up at the end to couple the red. Where possible, as someone has mentioned, I would couple slightly on the bend to give myself a bit of extra room. I saw none of the others do this and was horrified one night near Angers when trailer swopping with a mate and he coupled everything then shunted back pushing the trailer away and nearly wrecking the legs. I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t been on the level at the time.
Sorry you two. You won’t convince me. I’ll always take the safest option feasible and releasing brakes on an uncoupled trailer is not the safest option.
Coffeeholic:
. The trailer rolled forward, when I put the red line on, but as I had raised the air suspension before connecting the lines it caught on the pin anyway so no harm done.
?
You make my case for me Coffee!
If there had been less space between cab and trailer when the pin caught you would have been crushed. Why take the chance unless you have to?
Salut, David.
I’m in the Rob and Coffee camp on this one.
Have you not heard of lorries running away because the driver forgot to apply the unit prak brake when coupling. it is’nt proceedure to forget this part of the operation, no more than the trailer park brake being swapped for a shunt button is correct procedure, life contains risk you endavour to minmise risk but you cannot eliminate it. I slpit couple when on fridges, and am a lot more careful to check the trailer bake before going under the trailer, so you might say that when using other trailers i’m a danger to other’s for not checking trailer brake before coupling, but i dont know many yards where the drivers apply the trailer brake when uncoupling, apart from those using fridges, maybe H&S is 20 years behind over here in Norfolk
Oh you apear to have heard of run aways, i had’nt got that far down before writing the post
but it shows that un/coupling is a dangerous part of the job, and accidents happen, so you have to conentrate on what your doing, and accept it
"eddie snax. I slpit couple when on fridges, quote:
Which implies that you don’t when you’re not. The same as me.
Because as you say I minimise the risk. By not doing it if I don’t have to.
So how is it that that puts you in the Coffee and Rob camp?
you endavour to minmise risk but you cannot eliminate it. I slpit couple when on fridges, and am a lot more careful to check the trailer bake before going under the trailer, so you might say that when using other trailers i’m a danger to other’s for not checking trailer brake before coupling, but i dont know many yards where the drivers apply the trailer brake when uncoupling, apart from those using fridges, maybe H&S is 20 years behind over here in Norfolk 
