Part 1: Risk assessment, your legal duty

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) refer to "any vehicle or mobile equipment which is used by employers, employees, self-employed or visitors in any work setting (apart from traveling on the public roads)" as "workplace transport".

Each year around 70 people are killed in accidents involving workplace transport and there are more than 2,000 major injuries, many resulting in the need for long-term care. It is not surprising then that this issue ranks amongst the top priorities of the HSE. The key risks are:

> Being hit by a vehicle

> Falling off a vehicle

> Being hit by materials falling off a vehicle

The first step in managing these risks, as with all health and safety issues, is to make sure that transport related operations have been thoroughly risk assessed. Employers have a legal duty to provide a safe workplace, to provide and maintain safe systems of work, and to take all reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the safety of their workers and members of the public who might be affected by their activities.

Written risk assessments must be up to date, have been communicated to all employees and third parties, and copies ought to be readily available and accessible at all times.

The key stages of the risk assessment of workplace transport risks are as follows:

> Identifying the hazards arising from workplace transport

> Assessing the risks to workers and anyone else, e.g. members of the public

> Establishing what control measures are needed to ensure a safe workplace

> Implementing the control measures

> Monitoring and maintaining controls and revising them when necessary

The remaining sections of this workplace transport feature - examining the workplace, vehicles, training and driving - should help with your risk assessment and ensure your workplace transport is safe, efficient and in keeping with your legal obligations...