I hear what you are all saying, it was bloody hard work, i should know, i stuck it for more years than i care to remember. The job was, and from the things i hear from some of the lads i keep in contact with, much worse than it was when i were there…glad my present job came up when it did or i’d have worked myself to an early grave! The trouble with big foodservice outfits is that they cram as much on to the back of the wagons as possible, and most of the time, the cages are poorly stacked (top heavy) and they are poorly maintained (missing wheels/bits of the frame work poking out etc). A few comments above puzzle me…Limeyphil said ‘he did this to himself’. How did you come to this conclusion? It was indeed, a tragic accident, but the blame cannot be put on the agency guy…he was just doing his job, to earn a few bob to support his family. That he can do no more. I would just reiterate, he was not a driver (no lgv ticket), he was the drivers mate, the ‘gopher’. The driver (at the time) was stood in the back of the wagon, lowering the tail-lift down…he saw the cage fall off the lift but only realised the guy was there when he heard him screaming. Battersea will be the next depot for a mention ‘in similar circumstances’ closely followed by Harlow
Actrosman:
I hear what you are all saying, it was bloody hard work, i should know, i stuck it for more years than i care to remember. The job was, and from the things i hear from some of the lads i keep in contact with, much worse than it was when i were there…glad my present job came up when it did or i’d have worked myself to an early grave! The trouble with big foodservice outfits is that they cram as much on to the back of the wagons as possible, and most of the time, the cages are poorly stacked (top heavy) and they are poorly maintained (missing wheels/bits of the frame work poking out etc). A few comments above puzzle me…Limeyphil said ‘he did this to himself’. How did you come to this conclusion? It was indeed, a tragic accident, but the blame cannot be put on the agency guy…he was just doing his job, to earn a few bob to support his family. That he can do no more. I would just reiterate, he was not a driver (no lgv ticket), he was the drivers mate, the ‘gopher’. The driver (at the time) was stood in the back of the wagon, lowering the tail-lift down…he saw the cage fall off the lift but only realised the guy was there when he heard him screaming. Battersea will be the next depot for a mention ‘in similar circumstances’ closely followed by Harlow
Truck driving and the associated ‘duties’ is a pretty dangerous trade tbh. I’ve certainly suffered more injuries doing this job than any other. Losing a cage off the tail lift is really one for the “you’re not a proper trucker until…” thread from some months ago. But it can go so horribly wrong so quickly and sometimes there is ‘someone’ looking out for you, and other times - as in this case - there isn’t.
I was knocked into a coma and lost a lot of blood when a rusty trailer roof support suddenly sprang out and smashed into my temple. I’ve never experienced pain like it but had it been a bit harder then the force could’ve easier been enough to give me lasting brain damage and render me a cabbage or even worse, killed me altogether. It was just a normal day and I was going about my job as you would expect, then wham, I suddenly find myself on a stretcher having oxygen fed into me and enroute to A&E at warp factor 9.
There’s always going to be a high risk of injury in the job and no amount of H&S cotton wool will ever change that. Accidents happen and people should think about the dangers before deciding to enter this trade.
I got a bit of agency work just after qualifying for my class 2 with Greggs.
The bloke I was with dropped a cage load of cream cakes off the tail lift with no injuries to either of us. Don,t know if any of the customers had their teeth broken by grit that day though.
Rob K:
Truck driving and the associated ‘duties’ is a pretty dangerous trade tbh. I’ve certainly suffered more injuries doing this job than any other. Losing a cage off the tail lift is really one for the “you’re not a proper trucker until…” thread from some months ago.But it can go so horribly wrong so quickly and sometimes there is ‘someone’ looking out for you, and other times - as in this case - there isn’t.
I was knocked into a coma and lost a lot of blood when a rusty trailer roof support suddenly sprang out and smashed into my temple. I’ve never experienced pain like it but had it been a bit harder then the force could’ve easier been enough to give me lasting brain damage and render me a cabbage or even worse, killed me altogether. It was just a normal day and I was going about my job as you would expect, then wham, I suddenly find myself on a stretcher having oxygen fed into me and enroute to A&E at warp factor 9.
There’s always going to be a high risk of injury in the job and no amount of H&S cotton wool will ever change that. Accidents happen and people should think about the dangers before deciding to enter this trade.
Same thing happened where I work, driver got a right egg on his brow. Tr was taken away for work to be carried out on the roof support. When it came back we checked over the support but couldn`t see what had been done to prevent it happening again. Driver went to garage to ask what had been done,fitter came out shaking his head then pointed at a, " mind your head " sign,stuck to the top bar.