Does Workplace Transport Occur On-Site? Are Basic Precautions in Place?
16% of fatalities in the workplace are related to vehicles moving on-site. This is an average of 21 lives lost annually over the last five years. Statistics demonstrate that the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector each loses 6 workers annually to vehicle strikes, with construction and the transportation and storage sector each losing 4 annually.
Business sectors that see a fatality occur will often find that proper management could and should have eliminated the risk of the hazard. Preventing these fatalities requires organisations to implement proven control measures and to then remain consistent in their approach. This means conducting thorough and meaningful risk assessments, implementing findings, maintaining equipment rigorously, and empowering workers to identify hazards before incidents occur.
In The Courts
Courts are reacting by issuing significant financial penalties. The following 2 examples both occurred in 2025:
- Bestway Northern Ltd was fined £1 million when a reversing vehicle resulted in a worker’s fatality.
- Biffa Waste Services Ltd was fined £2.48 million due to a worker being killed by a reversing vehicle.
Why do These Incidents Occur?
When looking closer at what causes these types of incidents, a pattern emerges:
- There is a reversing vehicle involved.
- There is no safe route for pedestrians, e.g. a path segregated from moving traffic.
- There is either no traffic management or no enforcement of it.
- Safety is being treated as optional, rather than as a legal requirement.
Questions to Consider for Your Business
Consider the below questions in relation to workplace transport for your business. If any of them are answered yes, then an incident could be closer than anticipated.
- Does the company’s risk assessment for workplace transport need to be reviewed?
- Is it older than 12 months?
- Does the action plan still have unattended requirements?
- Are there new workplace processes that need to be considered?
- Have the workplace conditions changed since the last review?
- Do delivery schedules take precedence over the use of a banksman (traffic marshal)?
- Are any reversing beepers, cameras, or mirrors on company vehicles not working?
- Are reported faults on vehicles not being repaired due to cost, or vehicle downtime being inconvenient?
- Do people ignore safe walkways?
- Is the information and training provided to staff out of date?
Preventing These Incidents
A significant part to preventing these incidents is providing all pedestrians and drivers on site with the safe working procedures and upholding these standards. Managers and supervisors should encourage workers to report any issues or vehicle faults and routinely challenge and investigate any unsafe behaviours they come across.
Before allowing a vehicle to move on site, managers should know the risk it will pose, to whom, and have a determined methodology to manage it. This requires understanding the risks and having the commitment to control them properly.
Drivers on site must understand the risks they face, when to request a banksman, and feel able to stop work if conditions become unsafe. This applies to all relevant employees, and any visiting drivers and contractors who may not be familiar with the site.
We take a closer look below at some key things to consider as part of safe working.
Designing a Safe Site
This usually involves the separation of people and moving vehicles wherever possible.
- Create dedicated walkways with physical barriers.
- Make walkways visible and obvious to everyone, for example, use signage, coloured floors, and highlight barriers.
- Use a one-way traffic system to reduce reversing.
- If the site is big enough, post a speed limit and use traffic calming measures.
- Use designated loading areas away from where people work.
- Provide a banksman for the site. This can be done by training an employee.
- Provide adequate lighting so drivers can see clearly throughout the day.
Maintaining Vehicles
Vehicle checks are a legal requirement that keeps the vehicles safe to use. This is best conducted on a schedule. Regular, if not daily, checks must be standard practice. Vehicles found with defects or faults should be taken out of service until repairs are completed.
This is an example of a preventative action that can be taken to manage workplace transport, rather than a reactionary measure.
Reversing Aids
These help drivers detect hazards they cannot see directly and are essential safety equipment. They only protect people when they are in good working order or used to good effect, so upkeep is essential. They come in many forms:
- Reversing cameras and in-built CCTV systems.
- Audible reversing alarms.
- Proximity sensors.
- Rear and side view mirrors.
- Banksmen.
If this newsletter has raised questions or you need any further support, please do not hesitate to contact us.