HSA to begin immediate inspection & awareness blitz.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) will begin a two-week inspection and awareness safety blitz from Monday 24th February.
The nationwide campaign will focus on the management of vehicle risks in the workplace such as driving for work, vehicle operations and load securing.
It comes after 16 people in Ireland were killed in incidents involving transport in the workplace in 2019.
Trucks and dumpers are the most hazardous vehicle types in the commercial workplace – accounting for five deaths last year – and are frequently found in warehouses, workshops and factories.
The main causes of injury are people falling off vehicles, or being struck or crushed by them during the manoeuvring, reversing or coupling and uncoupling of vehicles.
Deirdre Sinnott, senior inspector with the HSA, said planning is the first step to ensure work is done safely. “In the next fortnight, inspectors plan to carry out around 200 inspections on transport and logistics companies, manufacturing premises, waste and recycling facilities, distribution centres and warehousing centres”.
She continued “They will be looking at vehicles such as forklifts, rigid lorries, articulated trucks, vans, waste vehicles and skips, as well as visiting vehicles at workplaces. Making workplaces safer can be as simple as just be a lick of paint – lines and signs can make a huge difference. This campaign will focus on the management of vehicle risks in the workplace, particularly traffic movements such as parking, reversing and slow speed manoeuvres and typical vehicle operations such as deliveries and collections, the use of vehicle tail lifts, forklifts and lorry loader cranes, loading, unloading and load securing and driving for work”.
