Posted By Sarah J Shaw Of late we have had a number of injuries relating to drivers getting in and out of lorry cabs. As with all things there is a right way and a wrong way of doing it. Has anyone ever come across any training material to cover this, or has set up their own training. We have contacted the vehicle manufacturers and driver training organisations, but they do not cover this aspect. (Obviously a lack of liability claims in this area to drive the issue). Sarah

Posted By Karen Todd Hello Sarah, My husband is a lorry driver but I have never heard of training to get in and out of the cab. I did a forklift training course though and was shown the proper way to get on and off the FLT. Hubby had a Volvo FH12 - there are 2 handles which I used both of to hold onto and slowly climbed up and down the steps, facing the lorry. A lot of lorry drivers just seem to get out facing away from the lorry, holding onto 1 handle, descend 1 or 2 steps then jump down. I get laughed at for being so cautious. In his last job, he went for an interview and was sent to do a trial run. Of course he didn't think to take his wedding ring off. He was jumping down out of the cab and caught his wedding ring. He was very lucky - the ring dug into the underside of his finger and tore the flesh. Others have not been so lucky and have had their finger "degloved" or had their finger ripped off. I absolutely forbid him to wear his wedding ring during the week now - he only wears it at weekends when he is not working. Another time he was cleaning the lorry out and he was descending the steps (again facing away) with the vacuum cleaner in one hand. He slipped on the steps, landed on the front lawn on top of the vacuum cleaner but luckily was more embarassed than anything. Our neighbour also is a lorry driver and had an accident getting out of his block lorry. He was descending the steps facing away from the lorry. Somehow his rigger boot got caught on the step. He wrecked his ankle and banged his head on the drive and was knocked out. Luckily my husband is a first aider and witnessed this happen and ran over to him. All I can suggest is that they use both handles and get in and out of the cab facing the lorry, using all the steps. Regards, Karen

Posted By Dave Pike Hi Sarah, As a H&S manager in the logistics division of a very well known high street retailer we do actually train all of our drivers on the proper methods of safely getting in and out of the tractor unit. The reasons are twofold , firstly it reduces the number of driver accidents when they jump down from the cab and also. very importantly, reduces the number of compensation claims from the very same drivers when they alledge that they have never been trained to safely get in and out of their vehicle!!!! If you'd like to email me on llanellidave@aol.com then I'll send you an example by return. Regards Dave