HSE Publishes New Guidance for Oversized Trucks
A research report from Britain's OSHA points out loading and unloading operations cause many of the reported injuries at companies operating them.
A new research report from Britain's Health and Safety Executive concerns a category of oversized trucks called heavy goods vehicles. These may be double-decked trailers, which are used to carry goods because they reduce fuel costs and emissions. But they have a higher center of gravity when loaded and can overturn more easily, and workers can be exposed to fall hazards while loading and unloading them, according to HSE.
The new report says available injury data show 51 percent of the injuries involving truck operations in 2008-2009 occurred during loading and unloading.
However, the number of injuries and deaths in road accidents in which at least one heavy goods vehicle was involved fell steadily from 1999 to 2009, with serious injuries and fatalities dropping by 58 percent during that period, it says.