Preventing Falls from HGV's

In the UK, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are essential for transporting goods across the country. Regular maintenance of these vehicles is crucial for ensuring their safe operation, and accessing the top of these vehicles is an important aspect of this process.

To ensure HGVs remain safe, efficient, and compliant, workers often need to access the vehicle's roof for various maintenance tasks. Such as:

• Routine Inspections: Regular checks identify potential issues like roof damage or faulty roof-mounted lights and accessories that are essential for visibility.
• Cleaning and Maintenance: Installing updates, such as GPS antennas and safety equipment, improves navigation and road safety.
• Vehicle Modifications: Made to withstand industrial use, ensuring long-term reliability
• Regulatory Compliance: Regular roof access ensures all vehicle components meet UK safety standards, maintaining insurance coverage and reducing liability.
• Enhanced Road Safety: Regular maintenance minimises breakdown risks, creating a safer environment for both HGV operators and other road users.

Falling from HGV’s: The Risk

So, we’ve established that there is a need to access the vehicle’s roof – but what are the risks involved? .

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to all work at height that could lead to a fall, and employers and those in control of the work must ensure compliance. HSE reports that falls from vehicles are among the most common accidents involving workplace transport.

The causes of these falls are often caused by; slipping and falling from loads and access steps and ladders, broken ropes or torn sheets causing overbalancing, inappropriate footwear, bad weather, and lack of awareness training.

By law, employers must take suitable and effective measures to prevent anyone falling a distance that is likely to hurt them and prevent anyone from being hit by a falling object.

The Hierarchy of Control

According to the hierarchy of control, avoidance is the best strategy to prevent falls, and tasks that can be completed on the ground should be done whenever possible. But where avoidance is not possible, and on-vehicle access is not provided, then employers need to ensure that they provide other safe access solutions, such as; tower scaffolds, gantries, platforms etc.

Tower Scaffolds

Tower scaffolds are useful for HGV maintenance, offering stability, mobility, and height adjustability. However, they do come with several drawbacks:

• Setup and Sapce Requirements: They require time to assemble and disassemble, making them inefficient for quick tasks or in tight workshop spaces.
• Ground Stability: Uneven ground poses stability risks, especially outdoors, requiring extra support to prevent tipping.
• Training Requirements: Proper training is essential, as untrained use can lead to accidents and improper handling.
• Maintenance and Inspections: Regular checks are necessary, adding time and responsibility for safe use.
• Weight Limits: Restricted weight capacity can be limiting for tasks that need multiple tools or multiple workers.

Gantries

UGantries provide a stable, high-capacity platform for HGV maintenance but do come with their limitations:

• High Cost and Complex Installation: Gantries require a substantial investment and often need structural changes to the facility, making them costly and impractical for some workshops.
• Fixed Positioning: Since gantries are permanently installed, they lack mobility, restricting use to specific areas and limiting flexibility for servicing multiple vehicles.
• Space Constraints: Gantries need considerable overhead clearance, which can be a challenge for smaller workshops and may reduce available workspace.
• Ongoing Maintenance: Regular inspections and maintenance are essential to ensure safety, adding to operational demands.
• Ergonomic Limitations: Working on a fixed overhead structure for extended periods can cause worker fatigue, particularly with limited adjustability.

Platforms

Mobile work platforms are highly flexible and safe for HGV maintenance. They provide easy manoeuvrability around the vehicle, a stable work surface with guardrails, and quick setup to reduce downtime. Their compact and corrosion-resistant design ensures they fit well in any workshop, indoors or outdoors, and are built with durability in mind.

Cost-effective for frequent use, they offer an accessible and secure solution without the setup complexity or expense of gantries or scaffold towers – making these solutions ideal for dynamic HGV maintenance workshops.

Overhead Lifelines

Kee Track is an overhead rigid lifeline that attaches to roof purlins in your workshop. Taking up minimal space Kee Track offers a secure, fixed overhead anchor system that enables free movement along the entire vehicle.

• Enhanced Worker Safety: Kee Track's overhead rigid lifeline system provides continuous fall protection for workers who are accessing the roof and sides of HGVs.
• Unobstructured Mobility: Unlike scaffolding towers or gantries, rigid lifelines allow workers to move freely along the length of the vehicle. This unrestricted movement enhances efficiency, enabling quick access to various areas of the HGV, without having to reposition equipment.
• Quick Installation and Minimal Footprint: The Kee Track overhead rigid lifeline can be installed swiftly and requires no ground space unlike traditional scaffold towers or gantries – making Kee Track the ideal solution for workshops with limited space
• Durable and Low Maintenance: Kee Track is designed for long-term use, and requires minimal maintenance once installed. It’s always good practice to ensure your fall protection is inspected at least every 12 months
• Cost Effective Solution: The reduced need for scaffolding and the efficiency of quick access contribute to lower operational costs, making Kee Track a smart investment for HGV maintenance.

Conclusion

Ensuring safe access to the roofs of heavy goods vehicles is essential for effective maintenance and compliance with regulations. While various methods, such as tower scaffolds, gantries, and mobile work platforms have their benefits, the risks associated with falls cannot be overlooked. Mobile work platforms and overhead fall arrest systems offer unique advantages, such as enhanced safety, mobility, and cost-effectiveness, making them ideal solutions for HGV maintenance and repair workshops. By prioritising the right access solutions, you can ensure that you safeguard your workers while maintaining the operational efficiency of their fleets.

For more information, contact the team at Simplified Safety.