Victorian Transport Association praises new loading and unloading industry guidelines
March 1, 2011
New industry guidelines for working around trucks are as good as they get, the Victorian Transport Association Chief Executive Officer Phil Lovel says.
The Loading, Unloading Exclusion Zones industry guidelines are “one of the best” safety projects Lovel has seen which leave “nothing out”, he says.
It was developed through a joint initiative between the VTA, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and WorkSafe Victoria.
A steering committee including representatives from companies engaged in the transport and logistics task, such as K&S Freighters, Linfox, OneSteel and AkzoNobel Australia, was also involved in forming the guidelines.
“The issue of a truck driver and other personal safety around mobile plant during loading and unloading is a very significant safety problem,” Lovel says.
“There are many serious accidents and deaths caused by poor practices whilst loading and unloading and there are also many near-misses,” he adds.
The guidelines assist employers and managers, including drivers, handling operators, health and safety representatives to implement effective safety controls in the workplace.
“The guidelines leave nothing out; it has many pictures of various risk situations, so even the busiest person can see what should be done.
“This is now the ‘state of knowledge’- there should be no excuses that someone didn’t know, they should know what is safe and what is a risk,” Lovel says