Obviously i can’t comment on this (my old depot) but in my eyes, they got off VERY lightly…disgustingly light to be honest roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … driver.htm
Really?
You don’t think they were a scape goat and made to pay an extortionate amount of money due to health and safety ■■■■■■■■?
How many people do things they’re not trained for?
Do you know, to go onto a trailer bed, you’re working at heights, which means you need a harness, a hard hat, and a working at heights certificate.
Even to use the ladder to climb up requires training.
I’ve been to Brakes and similar places (not 3663) and I’ve gone out and done the job.
If I don’t know how to do or use something, I ■■■■■■■ ask.
Sounds to me like a tragic accident, and due to morons, the company has had to pay out a hell of a lot of money in fines and court costs - this is not money to the injured driver btw.
Wasn’t trained in the use of tail-lifts?! They go up, they go down, don’t trap your hand or foot in them when they are moving, and DON’T step off the bloody thing when it’s in the air! Training done - and common sense tells you that if something does fall off the tail - let it go!
although he is now paralised for the rest of his life, the fact is, he did this to himself.
the legal team acting for 3663 should be struck off, what a bunch of useless tossers.
The Sarge:
Wasn’t trained in the use of tail-lifts?! They go up, they go down, don’t trap your hand or foot in them when they are moving, and DON’T step off the bloody thing when it’s in the air! Training done - and common sense tells you that if something does fall off the tail - let it go!
Yep & a he was a temp when at the interview was he asked if he new how to unload or has he had experience with cages before 
Or if agency you are expected to know all of this
Actrosman:
Obviously i can’t comment on this (my old depot) but in my eyes, they got off VERY lightly…disgustingly light to be honest roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … driver.htm
That’s a good one, obviously you can’t comment, then you do just that!
Terrible accident, but really it’s just that. I myself have had cages fall off tail lifts. These things just happen. We can’t wrap everyone and everything in cotton wool. Everybody wants to push the blame onto someone else. Did he ask for tail lift training? I’ve never been trained in using a tail lift and I imagine it’s the same for many others
He was a drivers mate, just there for the ■■■■■■■ and dumping. With all due respect to Switchlogic, i meant i couldn’t go into full details of the hows whys and wheres, as i still worked at Abingdon when the accident happened. I to have had cages fall out the back, along with the odd pallet, but i never had a 3 wheeled one that was top heavy fall on to the back of my neck whilst i was bending down to lift the flap and bend me in half and leave me on the floor (and i quote the driver at the time of the incident) ‘‘squealing like a pig’’ in agony and having to rely on others for the rest of my natural
i think that 3663 did get off very lightly. and why do so many drivers blame the health and safety people on the slightest little thing. i am all for health and safety at work and you will be very very suprised how many companys do not take it seriously. after all it is there for your benefit.
using any thing you have not had the proper training on should should not be used.
A 3663 driver got his finger chopped off with a tail lift, i think it was at tesco colinton. Apparently so i hear they got frozen peas for it.
And its now probably going to put in the folders of these training companies to be used as a justification for the Drivers CPC
Why, does the DCPC cover sack trucks and tail lifts?
The Sarge:
Why, does the DCPC cover sack trucks and tail lifts?
Its supposed to cover everything that the driver does to make him better at his job 
Yeah, right! I shall look forward to it 
waynedl:
Really?You don’t think they were a scape goat and made to pay an extortionate amount of money due to health and safety [zb]?
How many people do things they’re not trained for?
Do you know, to go onto a trailer bed, you’re working at heights, which means you need a harness, a hard hat, and a working at heights certificate.
Even to use the ladder to climb up requires training.I’ve been to Brakes and similar places (not 3663) and I’ve gone out and done the job.
If I don’t know how to do or use something, I [zb] ask.Sounds to me like a tragic accident, and due to morons, the company has had to pay out a hell of a lot of money in fines and court costs - this is not money to the injured driver btw.
Agree with you here Wayne. However these companies that do catering deliveries need a massive shake up imho. I’ve worked on agency for 3663 and Brakes and both jobs are a nightmare from hell. 9 times out of 10 the place you’re delivering to is on a hill and you’ve nowhere flat to unload which is THE reason why these accidents happen because you release the load security bar thinking you’ll be able to hold the cage back but you can’t because they’ve loaded it with fizzy drinks to 7ft tall, so off the end of the tail lift it goes and God help you if you get in its way 
.
Even if you can find a flat spot to unload, you’re then on your own trying to push an overloaded cage up a hill, over rough terrain and kerbs/edges, or you’re trying to nurse it down a slope and the cage is taking chunks out of your ankles.
And if that were not bad enough, you’ve then got to push them for miles down corridors to the canteen, then unload the stock from the cages into their fridges/freezers
The entire job is riddled with accidents waiting to happen.
Do you know, to go onto a trailer bed, you’re working at heights, which means you need a harness, a hard hat, and a working at heights certificate.
Even to use the ladder to climb up requires training.
I think you should do some revision on the working at heights regs.
a harness, a working at heights certificate
only required if working at >2M above ground!
Either that or you have some [zb] high wagons at your place!
The company was given a £48,000 fine and ordered to pay £14,000 legal costs after accepting responsibility for the accident.
Think everybody has to get real, if we’d taken a casual temp/agency job as this bloke seems to have done we arent goning to start asking for training in this that etc… zb off and go to another agency would have been the words ringing in the guys ears.
Yes accidents happen, and this is a very bad one, 28 years old with a family to support!! He’s now incapable of doing so. I just hope he gets a great Lawyer that can stand his corner and gets him the compensation he deserves and needs for him and his family. Tha’ts what Employers Liability Insurance is for.
The NHS will likely to have to deal with an accident similar to this one day, Half there rigids tail lifts have no stop plates on the ends or sides. .My Lastboss told me if it is not safe DO NOT TAKE IT OUT. this is why! and 62k ■■.. they should be ashamed. i feel for his family.
I worked at 3663 in Basingstoke a few years ago. Had a delivery to a posh school in Woking and was parked on a hill whilst unloading a bloody heavy cage. It decided that it didn’t like the tail lift so it fell over just as the lift was touching the floor. I in my stupidity tried to hold it albeight for a few seconds and then let it go. Had a twinge in my back, and when I got back to the depot all they were interested in was that ‘I signed’ the relevant H&S doccs. Fair play it was my own stupidity for trying to hold a cage but luckilly nothing happened and no injuries happened. My induction was 4 days squeezed into 1, we were running around like flies trying to make all the deliveries. In a way I was lucky as my lorry was an ‘old’ one with side flaps. The newer ones had just a bit at the front that raised to stop the cage rolling of, no way of keeping the cage on the lift if the lorry was parked on an angle. I agree with RobK on the cage load, number of times I had to ask the KP to give me a hand as I couldn’t move the cage or had no chance of holding it if it rolled downhill.
I done a day at this Abingdon branch and they loaded 27 drops onto my truck…two drivers couldn’t work that day so I got both their runs into 1. Luckily I had a drivers mate with me but after that day I refused to go back to ANY 3663 depot. I’ve also worked at Londis in Andover and had the same problems as Rob K…there’s very few stores you go to that are on flat ground, their tal lifts also were hinged underneath the platform, so it created a ramp for the cages…I had one cage fall on me and refused to do shop deliveries for them.
I told the agency that I’d only do trunking at Londis but they kept sending me there, only to find “my run has changed/been cancelled…can you do a few shops for us?”…to which my reply was the obvious no.
Rob K:
waynedl:
Really?You don’t think they were a scape goat and made to pay an extortionate amount of money due to health and safety [zb]?
How many people do things they’re not trained for?
Do you know, to go onto a trailer bed, you’re working at heights, which means you need a harness, a hard hat, and a working at heights certificate.
Even to use the ladder to climb up requires training.I’ve been to Brakes and similar places (not 3663) and I’ve gone out and done the job.
If I don’t know how to do or use something, I [zb] ask.Sounds to me like a tragic accident, and due to morons, the company has had to pay out a hell of a lot of money in fines and court costs - this is not money to the injured driver btw.
Agree with you here Wayne. However these companies that do catering deliveries need a massive shake up imho. I’ve worked on agency for 3663 and Brakes and both jobs are a nightmare from hell. 9 times out of 10 the place you’re delivering to is on a hill and you’ve nowhere flat to unload which is THE reason why these accidents happen because you release the load security bar thinking you’ll be able to hold the cage back but you can’t because they’ve loaded it with fizzy drinks to 7ft tall, so off the end of the tail lift it goes and God help you if you get in its way
Even if you can find a flat spot to unload, you’re then on your own trying to push an overloaded cage up a hill, over rough terrain and kerbs/edges, or you’re trying to nurse it down a slope and the cage is taking chunks out of your ankles.
And if that were not bad enough, you’ve then got to push them for miles down corridors to the canteen, then unload the stock from the cages into their fridges/freezers
The entire job is riddled with accidents waiting to happen.
I know what you’re saying Rob, and I agree 100%. As I said, I’ve done Brakes once on multi drop and Whitbread once on multi drop, and that was it, I’m not stupid enough to value their load over my health and safety, and in the end I just refuse to go there.
The job is very dangerous and too many drops to too many stupid places with too many ignorant and arrogant people on the other end who are unwilling to give you the time of day, let alone help you with the job.
BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that this was just an accident. Sure the driver should get some compensation to help him and his family with their lives now that he’s no longer able to work and earn a living (in the same way at least), but the fines for ‘lack of training’ are ■■■■■■■■ imho, it’s a cage with wheels and a ■■■■■■■ tail lift that goes up and bloody down. All the training in the world wouldn’t have stopped the accident, only the driver moving and letting the stuff smash everywhere and then just cleaning it up.
When I was on brakes, they loaded jars of chutney and red cabbage on top of bags of salad and things in a cage with only 2 or sometimes 3 sides and about 45cm of cling film on a 5’ cage.
So, these fell off and broke and made the floor HELL, juices and red cabbage all over the floor, trying to unload the truck at deliveries whilst not slipping, falling over and impaling myself on the broken glass.
The job’s ■■■■, the loaders are ■■■■, but this was an accident.