Posted By Delwynne Please can somebody help! I work for a construction company involved in 'heavy' civils. Most of our equipment and materials are delivered on flatbed trailers and I am trying to prepare a risk assessment for edge protection (or rather lack of) when slingers require access to the trailer in order to unload wagons. A fixed loading bay is no use as the loading area moves from day to day, a mobile working/access platform is a possibility however the ground surface is usually uneven and/or soft and the system would need to be quickly errected whilst being very sturdy (I have spent hours on the internet looking for a suitable option with no luck). Guardrails fitted to the edge of the flatbeds would be nice but to date I have found no hauliers looking at providing such a system. Beans bags etc don't seem like a good option as people would jump from the wagon onto the bean bag, slide off and break their ankles(yes it might seem cynical but wouldn't you!). Harnesses seem a bit pointless at a height of less than 2m and fixing them to anything may also be a bit awkward and loading/unloading from ground level is not practical for all situations due to nature and weight of loads. Your thoughts, comments, ideas would be greatly appreciated as I'm losing the will to live!

Posted By Mike Pearce I’ve come across a similar problem when I carried out a risk assessment for personnel carrying out maintenance activities on helicopters in the field. I came to the conclusion I could only do what was reasonably practicable. Provide training, ensure adequate supervision and ensure appropriate clothing / footwear is worn.