Radar19:
You may remember my last thread about the run away trailer, in that thread some mentioned reporting it to HSE. Its been over a week or more now and I’ve heard nothing from the office about whats going to happen. The yard is still as chaotic as ever, trailers as still being left in the middle of the yard and the subcontracter in question is still pulling our trailers.
Now, I’ve never had to do anything like this before so I don’t know what the process is. I’m expecting some person from HSE will come and investigate the yard and obviously speak to management about it but will they need to speak to me? I don’t really want to single myself out as the one that “dobbed” the company in so to speak.
Who have you reported it to ? someone within your own company or to the HSE (as in HSE.gov.uk) If it is the latter I would push for an acknowledgement that they have received your complaint then leave it at that. If you have been brave enough to report it within your own company (and I take my hat off to you) then be very careful how much you push, sometimes whistle blowers are not fairly treated. I am totally on your side with this one, but do think about yourself and how you may get promoted / best trucks / best runs in the future.
And thats what i put 2 weeks ago and thats why he won’t report it because he will lose his job, but that should not matter if it bothers him that much he is still bothered about it 2 weeks later.
mac12:
It is things like this that makes work hard comon sense tells you not to stand behind someone reversing, years ago it would be shout at the driver that he was a bit close but you would not get him into trouble over a mistake
The truck wasn’t reversing, the driver unhitched the trailer without removing the airlines, or lowering the landing gear. It then slip off the tractor unit and hit the OP’s truck where he’d been standing earlier undoing his curtains.
I think it might be time to be going to your GP (I know, before we go off on one about an appointment), and say that you are now, a fortnight later, having trouble sleeping because the potential consequences of this have been praying on your mind. View this as an arse covering exercise as an insurance against any backlash from the company over reporting the incident. Whatever happens they will have little chance of defending successfully any claim you may be entitled to make if they try to make life awkward.
This is the world we live in, the company take full advantage of it and make all sorts of rules for you to observe, so let them live by the rules. Be prepared, so that you are ready to get your retaliation in first.
At the moment its all just heresay, as far as i’m aware Radar hasn’t completed a safety or near miss form so its all deniable at present, getting the doctor involved does sling a protective ring on.
If a similar episode happened where i work, where they take H&S very seriously, all hell would have broken loose within minutes.
mac12:
But he has been on here twice asking about someone else reporting it to the HSE so it’s worrying him, why not just pick the phone up and do it himself not leave it to someone else. As i put last week it was just one of those things that happen drivers do make mistakes if everything gets reported nothing will get done.
I am sorry but I don’t think you get the point. OP has fulfilled HIS legal responsibilities by reporting the matter to the office. He is concerned as he has seen no improvement. He is asking advice what to do next as he does not know the process. Good for him for admitting it! Hopefully he will report it. Why people are so down on someone admitting they don’t know something is beyond me.
Regards the reporting everything, he was concerned about the way vehicles are parking in the yard, not just the incident with the trailer. 1 near miss happens as everyone makes mistakes but if it is frequent he is entitled to be concerned. If nothing is reported, nothing will improve and near misses will keep happening. Next time someone may not be so lucky. How would you feel if that person was someone you care about?
I think i do get the point, he came on here 2 weeks ago with photos that are no longer there wanting the HSE to look into a mistake by a driver but will not report it himself, if you are not willing to report it forget it. The company maybe have fulfilled there legal responsibilities by asking the driver what happened or the firm he works for.
It is things like this that makes work hard comon sense tells you not to stand behind someone reversing, years ago it would be shout at the driver that he was a bit close but you would not get him into trouble over a mistake
Lets sort a few things out, they seem to be getting lost in translation.
I still have the photos and they are still online for people to view. Second, the driver wasn’t reversing at the time, I don’t even think he was even in his cab when the trailer started to roll. Thirdly, I did report it to my TM as I’m supposed to do by law, he came out of the office, spoke to the driver of the runaway trailer and so far, that was that. Now its two weeks later and the yard is no different, trailers are left scattered because there is no way to put them. There is no safe place for us rigid drivers to park and wait to go get unloaded/reloaded so this incident has the potential to repeat itself. About 2 months ago now, they had to move the trailers they normally parked on the road leading up to our yard but that stopped when a office worker nearly got smashed into trying to leave the car park by a wagon coming up the road.
xichrisxi:
Not if the company has risk assessments in place and the near miss was caused by human error,the company can hardly be held responsible for some dopey [zb] messing up a trailer swap.
If they’re still getting the problem happening they need to change the park brake valves on the trailer to ones that automatically put the park brake on as soon as the red line is disconnected when dropping the unit and won’t allow it to be turned off until the red line is back on. The solution to the problem exists and it costs far less than repairing the damage.
And doing what that driver did needs to be classed as gross misconduct and become an instantly dismissible offence in the company.
xichrisxi:
Not if the company has risk assessments in place and the near miss was caused by human error,the company can hardly be held responsible for some dopey [zb] messing up a trailer swap.
If they’re still getting the problem happening they need to change the park brake valves on the trailer to ones that automatically put the park brake on as soon as the red line is disconnected when dropping the unit and won’t allow it to be turned off until the red line is back on. The solution to the problem exists and it costs far less than repairing the damage.
If nothing is happening/changing at the workplace, then it needs reporting direct to HSE - there’s a link on this page hse.gov.uk/contact/concerns.htm to do this.
If I was you, i’d start keeping a work diary.
Write down anything that worries you.
You may not need it now, but in the future you might.
I was injured at work a few years ago, because I wrote EVERYTHING down and kept notes, I won my case.
My employer settled 2 days after court date was set.
I know alot of people think H+S is all cobblers, but it is there for a reason.
This is the lot that thought(in another thread) all the roads on the estate and nearby were just an extension of their yard isn’t it? ISTR pictures of vehicles parked just anywhere waiting to get into the yard. The evidence points to the company having outgrown their existing premises; which is not an unusual thing in business. However they have obligations under the terms of their operator’s licence which take into account the number of vehicles and trailers operating from the licensed site.
Totally apart form the H&S aspect of this dangerous occurrence and the issue of overcrowding in the yard causing danger to employees and visitors, there is also the issue that operating centre is no longer suitable for the number of company vehicles and trailers using it. If this is what is happening rather than drivers not undertaking shunting type operations in the designated area, then the best chance of getting this stopped quickly is to contact vosa enforcement, which can be done anonymously. It worked within days when Tesco thought that they could park trailers in someone else’s yard during a busy period.
Edit add:
You can check on the details of an operators licence below. Start searching with the town. You should find the number of vehicles specified for that location.
Trailers aren’t treated as onerously as vehicles. Plenty of companies with hundreds of trailers left all over the place and don’t even have a o-licence at all because they sub out traction.
The yard’s a bit of a red herring the accident could happen anywhere the issue is negligence and driver training.
Be wary of the advice on here a miss is a good as a mile and there’s the usual competiton for the Trucknet Mr Elf and Safety crown. In my experience you won’t get a blues and twos response from HSE and the council will be pretty toothless and it’ll be the guy whose main job is looking for mouse ■■■ in takeaways.
There’s never any reward for whistleblowers on a crusade so I’d think hard about it.
Own Account Driver:
Trailers aren’t treated as onerously as vehicles. Plenty of companies with hundreds of trailers left all over the place and don’t even have a o-licence at all because they sub out traction.
The yard’s a bit of a red herring the accident could happen anywhere the issue is negligence and driver training.
Be wary of the advice on here a miss is a good as a mile and there’s the usual competiton for the Trucknet Mr Elf and Safety crown. In my experience you won’t get a blues and twos response from HSE and the council will be pretty toothless and it’ll be the guy whose main job is looking for mouse ■■■ in takeaways.
There’s never any reward for whistleblowers on a crusade so I’d think hard about it.
I think Radar knows this that’s why after 2 weeks he still hasn’t reported it to the HSE.
New job time IMO Radar. You have done what is expected of you. It appears that your company has adopted the time honoured approach of " it will be alright ".
These are the types of places that simply are not professional. Get yourself out of there Radar. Inevitable that a serious accident is en route. Keep your eyes peeled.
xichrisxi:
Not if the company has risk assessments in place and the near miss was caused by human error,the company can hardly be held responsible for some dopey [zb] messing up a trailer swap.
Every time there is a dangerous occurrence as Radar has shown, it is expected that the risk assessment to be updated and a clear record of the event… plus the risk factor scoring should be increased …
Own Account Driver:
Be wary of the advice on here a miss is a good as a mile and there’s the usual competiton for the Trucknet Mr Elf and Safety crown.
Dont need to be …Been a H&S adviser to a company for years so I don’t need any glorified titles thank you
eagerbeaver:
New job time IMO Radar. You have done what is expected of you. It appears that your company has adopted the time honoured approach of " it will be alright ".
These are the types of places that simply are not professional. Get yourself out of there Radar. Inevitable that a serious accident is en route. Keep your eyes peeled.
Heartily agree with what Beavers saying…No point working at a place that adopts a micky mouse when it comes to H&S…and what gets on my goat even more is those that dont think if effects them and its noting to do with them… only when it matters or suites
Ive got no expertise on this. It seems that radar has reported the incident to his employers, thereby fulfilling his legal obligation? But he obviously is not satisfied with the response. He is also worried about his future with the company if he is perceived as a "trouble-maker". (however unfair this is). So simply report to HSE anonymously? Make as full a report as possible without giving personal info, including the fact this was reported to the co. That way he can live with himself if owt goes seriously wrong in the future. And, yes, if you dont like the culture of the company where youre working then go look for somewhere better. That should protect his ■■■ and keep his conscience clear? All the above has been said by previous contributors to this thread, but Im trying to lay it out in a neat line.
