I was working for a big pallet company near coalville in Leicestershire, (SILVER UNITS AND TRAILERS) most of you will know by now who im on about.
What i asked was there a suggestion box as most or some big professional outfits have them.
What my suggestion was is why do you have to drive round the yard with you hazards lights on.
I was told to be seen, i then told this chap that hazards lights should only be used really when stationery as stated in the highway code.
I also pointed out that when you are following around the yard you can not see what the truck in front is going to do, a valid point as i thought as im Rospa (gold) bike and car trainer, and a fully qualified ADI driving instructor.
NOT SO BECAUSE IM A AGENCY WORKER IT WAS NICE AND BIG OF THEM TO SAY TO MY AGENCY NOT TO SEND ME THERE AGAIN, AND BAND ME FROM SITE… 
A VALID POINT OR NOT…
I think the basic answer is that the gaffer decided you were going to be trouble, and that is something he can do without!
If the firm want you to trundle round the yard with hazard lights on, why do you feel the need to question it? It’s their toy, and they make the rules. You even made silly rederences to the highway code, which has absoloutely no relevance in a private yard (that would have got my hackles up!).
There is a time and a place for ruffling feathers, and that is usually when you are a permanenet employee with your feet well and truly under the table. As an agency driver your job is to go to work, do what you’re told, and keep your mouth shut unless they ask you to do something illegal. Stick to that formula and you’ll get on fine.
I find it just best to abide by their H&S rules no matter how silly they might seem to be. At least that way if something does go wrong, you were doing it the way they wanted it to be done. Should keep you in the clear that way.
You achevied bugger all why try to be smart just get on do the job get paid
Basically, somebody higher up the food chain decided that vehicles should use hazard lights while in the yard and you questioned their judgement.
Always do what the grown-ups want if it’s safe and legal…
I find it oils the wheels somewhat
Health and Safety officers are quick to build ivory towers for themselves, since they need to justify their existence to their bosses.
Your point about driving around sites with hazards on is a valid one, in my opinion, for the reasons you gave.
While it is common practice at most RDCs, Sainsbury’s at Sherburn have a specific instruction not to do this after two of theirs collided
because neither could indicate which way they were turning 
They do like you to use hazards though when you are maneuvering, such as when backing onto a bay.
I have always taken the view that if someone can’t see a 16.5 metre long truck, they are unlikely to spot a few flashing orange lights.
That said, when a visitor on someone else’s site, it is less troublesome to quietly abide by their rules than to try to change them, unless, of course,
they are blatantly dangerous.
Regards,
Nick.
theres nothing worse then an agency driver coming into your yard and telling you how to run things, wether suggestion is right or wrong its just gonna bring you trouble, which it did…
You may as well question their decision to make you wear a high-viz vest, or a hard hat even when standing in the middle of an empty yard.
They are the rules, end of.
anybody else heard the hazard warning light story before ? im sure i have and it was on here . 
I think you should only put your hazards on in a yard when you are reversing. Pretty stupid having them on all the time when you are just driving around the yard.
To the OP though, if you are an agency driver, just keep your head down and your mouth shut and do your best not to get noticed.
Simples. 
steverospa:
I was working for a big pallet company near coalville in Leicestershire, (SILVER UNITS AND TRAILERS) most of you will know by now who im on about.
What i asked was there a suggestion box as most or some big professional outfits have them.
What my suggestion was is why do you have to drive round the yard with you hazards lights on.
I was told to be seen, i then told this chap that hazards lights should only be used really when stationery as stated in the highway code.
I also pointed out that when you are following around the yard you can not see what the truck in front is going to do, a valid point as i thought as im Rospa (gold) bike and car trainer, and a fully qualified ADI driving instructor.
NOT SO BECAUSE IM A AGENCY WORKER IT WAS NICE AND BIG OF THEM TO SAY TO MY AGENCY NOT TO SEND ME THERE AGAIN, AND BAND ME FROM SITE…
A VALID POINT OR NOT…
I suppose it was a bit rich coming from the same pallet network that allows Jumbo Bags of stones, sand etc weighing in excess of 1000kg to be placed onto pallets, knowing full well that the destination is a private address. Thats all well and good if there is a forklift at the destination but i cant ever recall anyone ever having one parked up in their driveway when i’ve arrived. Yes I have a tail lift but its wrong and dangerous to expect a driver to get these pallets off their truck and into a customers driveway on his own IMO, yet they seem to get away with it.
Gogan:
I think the basic answer is that the gaffer decided you were going to be trouble, and that is something he can do without!If the firm want you to trundle round the yard with hazard lights on, why do you feel the need to question it? It’s their toy, and they make the rules. You even made silly rederences to the highway code, which has absoloutely no relevance in a private yard (that would have got my hackles up!).
There is a time and a place for ruffling feathers, and that is usually when you are a permanenet employee with your feet well and truly under the table. As an agency driver your job is to go to work, do what you’re told, and keep your mouth shut unless they ask you to do something illegal. Stick to that formula and you’ll get on fine.
no wonder drivers get shafted left right and centre with attitudes like this.
I take it your first job in the morning is to drop your pants and let your tm give you it dry
I am here: maps.google.com/maps?ll=55.928538,-3.269786
It’s not theirs anymore,
This is our England now.
Paaaaarrrrrrttttttttyyyyyyyy
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
no wonder drivers get shafted left right and centre with attitudes like this.I take it your first job in the morning is to drop your pants and let your tm give you it dry
Fortunately, I tell the TM’s what to do. My first job in the morning is to summon the duty TM upstairs to give him his instructions.
Gogan:
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
no wonder drivers get shafted left right and centre with attitudes like this.I take it your first job in the morning is to drop your pants and let your tm give you it dryFortunately, I tell the TM’s what to do. My first job in the morning is to summon the duty TM upstairs to give him his instructions.
so your the kind of manager who shafts drivers and thinks they don’t have brains or thoughts about their own safety or that H & S is actually stopping the job getting done.
It’s not theirs anymore,
This is our England now.
Paaaaarrrrrrttttttttyyyyyyyy
I visit different sites of the same company and each has it’s own set of H&S rules, I just carry out the instructions for the site I am at and have a laugh about their inconsistency. Most of it is in writing so my back is covered.
Weekends when managers are absent then H&S goes out of the window.
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
so your the kind of manager who shafts drivers and thinks they don’t have brains or thoughts about their own safety or that H & S is actually stopping the job getting done.
How have you come to that conclusion? I haven’t mentioned anything about our drivers or the policies we ask them to work within. We openly encourage driver involvement in all aspects of running the business (the benefit of working for a small outfit), but that doesn’t mean we blindly let the drivers run the show. If that’s shafting them then yes, guilty as charged.
However, if an agency driver walked into our yard and started to question one of our rules without understanding the background to its implementation, whilst waving his rospa/adi/■■■■■ badge around and quoting the highway code (which has no relevance anyway!) then I too would have told him to get in his car and not to come back. Fortunately we never use agencies as our work is in an area where experienced drivers would be near impossible to get through agencies, but if I do ever ask an agency for a driver then that is exactly what I expect them to send, a driver, not a H+S consultant on minimum wage!
bjd:
You achevied bugger all why try to be smart just get on do the job get paid
You said it.
Harry Monk:
Basically, somebody higher up the food chain decided that vehicles should use hazard lights while in the yard and you questioned their judgement.
Yep, never a good idea making someone look stupid.
We all have to abide by site rules, follow the rules and pi55 off when the jobs done. You’ve now lost yourself a Job and hopefully your Agency doesn’t lose that contract.
I’m not saying BOHICA, just screw the nut ffs.
Gogan:
However, if an agency driver walked into our yard and started to question one of our rules without understanding the background to its implementation, whilst waving his rospa/adi/■■■■■ badge around and quoting the highway code (which has no relevance anyway!) then I too would have told him to get in his car and not to come back. Fortunately we never use agencies as our work is in an area where experienced drivers would be near impossible to get through agencies, but if I do ever ask an agency for a driver then that is exactly what I expect them to send, a driver, not a H+S consultant on minimum wage!
Hey, there’s nowt wrong with Agency Drivers, quite often we have been on many more sites and followed/had strange H&S things/rules thrown at us than your regular drivers. An Agency Drivers suggestion is just as valid as your Drivers, personally I wouldn’t waste my time on silly things like the flashing lights, that is just odd.
dinosteveus1:
Hey, there’s nowt wrong with Agency Drivers, quite often we have been on many more sites and followed/had strange H&S things/rules thrown at us than your regular drivers.
I have never suggested there was anything wrong with agency drivers. I also appreciate that agency drivers sometimes pick up a lot of experience over a short period of time. But …
dinosteveus1:
An Agency Drivers suggestion is just as valid as your Drivers
… that bit is ■■■■■■■■. The regular drivers understand the operation, the risks involved in each component of a job, the likely impact upon operations of a change in policy and all have specific training relating to the tasks and procedures involved in their work on a day to day basis. The agency driver doesn’t know his arse from his elbow in comparison, he only knows how other people implement H+S and even then almost certainly doesn’t understand the reasons why. Agency man doesn’t understand the risks and so by definition has yet to assess them for himself, so any suggestions he may make are likely to be misdirected and ultimately unhelpful until he understands the context of the current rules and the implementation of them.