Currently sitting at home with a very swollen left foot after having 2 sheets of plastic slip of the wagon yesterday and land on my foot. What happened is this:-
2nd driver was in the back of the wagon lowering the 8ft by 4ft sheets out to me whilst i was standing on the ground at the far end of the sheet.
From my position the sheets were at approx eye level (Give or take just under 6ft from ground)
As one sheet was lowered the 2 smaller sheets which had been loaded under the larger ones and unseen by either of us slid out with the larger sheet and landed on my foot behind the steel toecap.
what can be done in this instance? Some of the drops we go to do not have forklifts and my contract states that handballing is involved. The job is normally only done with one man but as were quiet we are double manning.
I’m not moaning or looking for compo as i enjoy my job and have put it down to one of those things, but I’m curious as to what the official line is on this if, indeed there is one.
Sounds like my job I work for a Builders merchant and frequently have to handball stuff like that off.
Quite often I just dump the stuff and sign the ticket myself because if I knock the door and someone is there they will ask me to take it round the back or put it in the garage not my job but you try and explain that to a lazy arsed builder.
I had an accident at work last year and it takes about 2 hours to fill in the form on a computer screen the questions just never stop, it has a score at the end which usually works out who is to blame and guess what■■?. Yep it was me I have to take more care next time I fall down the stairs of the truck.
Well we all have a “duty of care” both to others and to ourselves.
Your employer is supposed to have done a “risk assessment” for the work that you do so that a best practice method can be agreed. This can be taken to ridiculous lengths but in practice it should just be a case of looking at what might go wrong with a job and trying to make sure it doesn’t.
In your case the smaller sheets should obviously have been on top. Your employer has had to pay you for being off sick for a couple of weeks (I hope) so won’t be best pleased. Hopefully the lesson is learned.
In any case you should not be lifting anything that weighs more than 25kg on your own.
you cant lift anything above shoulder height is the rule but that would mean having to put up scaffolding in the trailer as you cant use ladders anymore.
we have to handball some rockwool stuff usually 300+ pipe sections stacked from bed to roof lol i usually pull one from the middle and run always good fun.
Back in the 90’s I was working for TDG on the Henderson Garage Door Contract delivering garage doors to homes and businesses etc around Essex and London.
I had to physically drag the doors from the front of the truck to the back doors for offloading. Whilst at Hackney Council I dragged a framed door from the headboard and one of the rope toggle handles snagged bringing the door to a sudden stop wrenching my back, I lost around 5 weeks and only got SSP.
I took it up with the Union solicitors, pointing out that each garage door had a label saying seek assistance when lifting, but, customers refused to get on the truck saying they were not insured.
Anyway, I recieved a call from the solicitor handling the case and he asked why I’d moved the door myself, had the 2nd man gone to the shop or something? When I said we worked alone his immediate reply was that TDG were breaking the law by not supplying a 2nd man as the items (Garage Doors) were clearly labled that assistance was required.
Hence the reason all Henderson garage door vehicles now have Forklifts on the back (Moffat Mounties)
25kg is the maximum recommended weight to be lifted by one person under health and safety regs, however, the employee can set his own limit that he is comfortable lifting, whether its 10kg or 55 kg as he is responsible for his own health and safety.
can anybody shed any light on handballing up or down flights of stairs■■?
I have been doing some agency work wich ment taking boxes up or down flights of narrow stairs to shop freezers,if i slipped/tripped would i be covered by any insurance,i’ve had no manual handling training/instruction thru either the agency or the client!!!
DT@Leightonhaul:
can anybody shed any light on handballing up or down flights of stairs■■?
I have been doing some agency work wich ment taking boxes up or down flights of narrow stairs to shop freezers,if i slipped/tripped would i be covered by any insurance,i’ve had no manual handling training/instruction thru either the agency or the client!!!
Hi DT, I’d go with what Santa says in that there must be a risk-assessment done for that job.
This is the employer’s resonsibility.
Here is a link some general info on manual handling: FROM THE HSE
DT@Leightonhaul:
can anybody shed any light on handballing up or down flights of stairs■■?
The Employee has a duty to look after their own welfare, and that of others around them.
In a Nutshell, you are within your rights to refuse to do something if you feel it is a risk to your personal safety or that of others.
The Employer is Legally obliged to give you training in all aspects of a job to ensure you do not injure yourself or others
In a Nutshell, if the employer has not given you training then refuse to do the job !!! If you injure yourself you can have a successful claim against the company as they wont have your signature on the form saying yu were given training for that task
But dont expect to be allowed back there through the agency
LINK TO AN Adobe.pdf DOC FROM THE HSE