if you are a normal driver working for a normal transport company.(not tosco or asda etc)…when you have to be made to go into lidl and the like and be made to self tip using their electric barrows etc…on the assumption that you will never have been inducted to be qualified to use mechanical handling equipment as by definition your employment is as a truckie and not a warehouse labourer,then if you crush yourself or just injure yourself whilst in the middle of lidls warehouse,then who do you claim compensation from,or if you inadvertantly crush a warehouse cabbage,who claims you.irrespective of what dung you are coerced into signing when your booking in,then you are invariably using equipment and are working in a warehouse that you have nothing to do with.
the disclaimer signs in carparks and things like that are meaningless in law if negligence can be proved,so if you take your toes off with a pallet truck,who do you sue.
When ive been ive always been asked if ive used them before. i hadnt the first time so they gave me an induction
chainmailguy:
When ive been ive always been asked if ive used them before. i hadnt the first time so they gave me an induction
which you didnt want r needed as your a driver,not a warehouse worker,so the question is…who do you sue?
Your employer has a duty of care to ensure you come to no harm. They should ensure you are trained to use any equipment as part of your employment duties and that equipment must be safe to use.
Any commercial site you enter has the same duty of care.
If you have an accident then you record it in their accident book as that is where it occured and notify your employer of all the details. If there are losses to you or your employer then your employer should claim from the 3rd party.
You can then also sue your employer for negligence if that was the cause.
The action would be against the person or body corporate who was shown to have acted negligently or intentionally to cause injury.
I’m sure the legal professionals and insurance companies would have a field day arguing the toss over liability.
Of course, if using the electric truck is not acceptable I’m sure they could find you a manual pump truck to use instead?
Sent using smoke and mirrors
If someone lies and claims they can use an electric truck, when they cant then maybe theyre to blame? I know we all (or most of us) just want to get on with our job, but the way things are going we gotta cover our own asses. Frustrating, but if summat happens the corporates won`t hesitate to point the finger at anyone but themselves.
EDIT, I`m no lawyer, and am on my settee, so not really qualified.
My current job is in the offshore catering industry, I have to sign to say that I’m competent and fully trained by my unit manager in the use of every bit of equipment I may use and also I have received training for every task that I may undertake during my working shift.
Should I use a non company supplied piece of equipment or attempt a task I have never been trained to do and subsequently injure myself then I am on my own.
If I have completed the training and the training and risk assements supplied by the company are found to be inadequate then that have liability.
So on that ground I would suggest that as you don’t work directly for said supermarket and are using equipment not supplied by your employer you would be on your own and as per my company you would also be looking at possible disciplinary action up to and including summary dismissal.
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then… 
dieseldog999:
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then…
Are they qualified or not? Daresay some are competent qualified users, some are incompetent, but still qualified, some competent but unqualified, some are incompetent and unqualified. The incompetent ones are all capable of knocking you down, but the qualified ones are the ones to stand in front of: that way you can sue the company that trained them. Does that help with your search for funding a holiday?
dieseldog999:
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then…
Well maybe just maybe those in charge reckon the drivers who drive there in a 60ft truck that bends and weights up to 44t may actually be ok operating a pallet truck with 4 buttons…
Personally I see unloading as part of a drivers job and actually prefer Lidl as you can get on with it and have a spot of exercise along the way
I have FLT licences so I wouldn’t get very far with a potential claim. Aldi Neston and Bolton are regular haunts of mine and I have never been asked if I am competent or trained at either.
In all fairness though, I quite like self tipping. No hanging about and a bit of exercise too.
eagerbeaver:
I have FLT licences so I wouldn’t get very far with a potential claim. Aldi Neston and Bolton are regular haunts of mine and I have never been asked if I am competent or trained at either.In all fairness though, I quite like self tipping. No hanging about and a bit of exercise too.
Normally it’s on the sheet you sign in on, they ask if you need training, you put no
switchlogic:
dieseldog999:
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then…Well maybe just maybe those in charge reckon the drivers who drive there in a 60ft truck that bends and weights up to 44t may actually be ok operating a pallet truck with 4 buttons…
Personally I see unloading as part of a drivers job and actually prefer Lidl as you can get on with it and have a spot of exercise along the way
No way ! Actually use our own common sense, and get off our asses to get a job done? No, I`ll eat my sausage rolls, sleep, and then pay to go to the gym. 
Is that an appropriate use of an icon ■■ 
I will have a look next time Switch.
From memory though, all I do is report in and they tell me which door number. Then once I am docked on I go back in and swap my keys for a PPT key (long or short forks, I always go for the short). I am sure I don’t write ‘No’ on anything mate.
First time I went to Aldi I hadn’t used one before.
Had an induction on electric fork lift.
Every time I’ve been in since I’ve always been asked if I need training.
switchlogic:
dieseldog999:
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then…Well maybe just maybe those in charge reckon the drivers who drive there in a 60ft truck that bends and weights up to 44t may actually be ok operating a pallet truck with 4 buttons…
Personally I see unloading as part of a drivers job and actually prefer Lidl as you can get on with it and have a spot of exercise along the way
yes but if you have not got a hand book telling you what them 4 buttons do then what 
Sounds to me like sour grapes, they have manual pump trucks if you don’t want to use the complicated set up of up down forwards and back
Drivers going to Lidl or aldi know the score before they go, if they don’t want to do it then they should take it up with their boss who accepts the job or get on with it
dieseldog999:
which you didnt want r needed as your a driver,not a warehouse worker,so the question is…who do you sue?
I can see why drivers do not want to unload their trailer, but using one of those electric pallet trucks is hardly a challenging exercise given how simple they are to use. I can also see the argument about liability if you use one and a pallet goes over, however.
As for the oft-posted ‘I am a lorry driver not a warehouse worker’ point, all of the contracts of employment I have ever seen include the wording ‘or any other reasonable task that the employer may require’, or similar. If a driver did refuse to use one repeatedly to the point that he or she got sacked, I doubt an employment tribunal would regard using an electric pallet truck to unload a trailer as an unreasonable instruction, for the simple reason that as long as you have been shown how to use one, it is not.
switchlogic:
dieseldog999:
so why is it that every day theres a hundred non trained or qualifed drivers using electric and manual trucks on lidl warehouse floor then…Well maybe just maybe those in charge reckon the drivers who drive there in a 60ft truck that bends and weights up to 44t may actually be ok operating a pallet truck with 4 buttons…
Personally I see unloading as part of a drivers job and actually prefer Lidl as you can get on with it and have a spot of exercise along the way
Nailed it.
My opinion divides two ways on this little potatoe. I like the self tip Aldi style stuff. It’s proper good fun that, motoring around on the pallet trucks. Waiting in an RDC is ■■■■ boring. I don’t like back loading equipment from the bay, half the time it’s not stacked right and you have to choose from a collapsed pile and is a general right old pain in the Harris. That I’m not fussed on, also some of the dodgy driving you see you know it’s only a matter of time before someone smashes your ankle. And they let these people drive lorries ?
Be nice if some of them had more parking and given you’ve burnt through drive/working time to get there often I found I needed a break before or after so ideally some parking provision would be nice as they know you can’t rest doing it. But given why you’re doing it in the first place I can’t see Rudolph and Ralf losing sleep over this one in Berlin
They’re tight undercutting gits, we know they are, those that buy their Rola Cola and Heinz ein Baked Beenz know they’ are too