Far too many incidents, accidents and occupational injuries happen in and around workplaces – the most common cause – a moving vehicle or mobile plant.
Most accidents can be avoided by taking more care and precautions to ensure you or your vehicle are not putting people at risk, and making sure you do not drive when tired.
To help keep you and others safe, we’ve put together a quick checklist on how to operate transport equipment safely around your workplace.
1. Check signage for vehicle height, width, and weight restrictions.
Carpark entrances, warehouse docks and bridges all carry height restrictions. It’s important to know the dimensions of the vehicle you’re driving to avoid a potential catastrophe.
2. Moderate speed.
A busy loading bay, construction site, or anywhere where there is a mix of people and moving vehicles or mobile plant increases the potential for an accident.
Watch out for maximum speed signage and slow down and anticipate the actions of others. People can become complacent and fail to take reasonable precautions, or simply fail to accurately gauge the speed of an approaching vehicle.
Even at low speed, Pedestrian v Vehicle accidents can result in serious injury or death.
3. Get to know the site and potential hazards.
If you are inexperienced or new to the location, spend a few minutes talking to the site supervisor or other drivers about known hazards. Reverse slowly and obey the directions of anyone guiding you into a tight space.
4. See and be seen.
When leaving the vehicle, always wear a high-vis safety vest or jacket and any other site specific safety gear such as helmets as directed.
5. Loading and unloading.
Check first to make sure nothing has moved in transit, if there is an issue, warn the loading bay supervisor of any potential hazard before unloading begins.
While unloading is taking place use the time to complete any paperwork, get some fresh air and refreshments. Supervise loading to ensure the weight of the cargo is properly distributed and secured properly.
6. Carry out the necessary safety checks of your vehicle.
Before starting the next leg of your journey, you should:
- Check your fuel, oil, and fluid levels.
- Test your air brakes.
- Walk around the vehicle and check lights, tyre condition and pressures, and the bodywork to make sure everything is in working order.
- Any damage should be photographed and reported as soon as possible.
With Rentco, help is never far away
At Rentco we have built a reputation for reliability and service that seamlessly integrates between all of our conveniently located service centres found in capital cities and major regional centres across Australia.
Our inventory of reliable modern trucks, trailers, prime movers, specialised equipment, and mine site compliant light commercial vehicles are serviced in house by our specially trained technicians and provide an affordable alternative for your transport and logistics needs.
Rentco has the capacity to deliver truck rental solutions nationwide, backed by our 24/7 emergency support. For peace of mind, reliability and service, get in touch with us today.