FLT breaks down on Fri night, FLT locked off waiting for engineer to attend site to deal with. Experienced warehouse manager (not FLT trained) decides on the Sat morning to get on another FLT along with another site manager (not FLT trained) one to steer the broken unit and shunt it out of the way. We have a very good controls in place on FLT, drivers must be trained, authorised to use, assessed every 6 month and refresher training every 3 years. The managers are well aware of the requirement that only trained and authorised staff can operate a FLT. So why would experienced managers do this? it’s really disappointing after all the training we put in place that managers would deem this Ok? They were reported by another member of staff who witnessed the event and CCTV confirms what happened. Both are currently suspended on full pay. So what would you do? Dismissal on ground of gross misconduct Final written warning As you can guess there are a range of views on the action that should be taken but would just like to canvas opinion Many Thanks

Hi, Yes other FLT driver was on site, (on his break) when they decided to move the FLT. Once the investigation is completed we will get answers as to why they decided this course of action. I am sure it was done for good reason, but for me does not excuse their actions. As for removing good managers for doing something completly against company procedures why should that make any difference. If it was a FLT driver in the warehouse , does that mean we should view this differently?

The course of action "should" be written in to the company policies & procedures. A clear beach of site safety rules with a witness. The senior management will need to make a decision that they are prepared to live with as it will send a message to the workforce on how the safety regime is really seen at senior level. On face value I have my own opinion but I have no knowledge of your site, your safety culture and the full circumstances so it remains merely an outsider's opinion, just as valid as the "bloke's in the pub".

ooops. Not JUST managers. (doh)

If you can drive a FLT you could always pop round to our site?

Only if your a manager it would seem!!!

forget about managers being involved and just ask yourself what you would do if an employe fo any rank did it. That's probably just a long winded way of saying what ClaireL said. If it happened on any of the sites I have worked on in the past they would be sacked.

For me it would depend on the outcome of the investigation - why did they feel the need to do this - were they under production pressures, more senior managers putting pressure on them, was it causing a more dangerous risk? Once the investigation has been done you need to consider this situation without prejudice, perhaps if they are very contrite they should have a final warning and more training and supervision and make sure others are aware of the implications of breaking policies. Also review what the HR policies state on action available depending on incident.

From the inherently limited information available to forum users about the full circumstances and background I'll third the views which Clairel gave in posting #6 with its subsequent corrections. If I was involved in investigating the circumstances, I'd want to explore the background about what actually happens at the premises rather than what the rules say or what people think happens. i.e. were the two managers doing what other employees without FLT training sometimes/occasionally do? Also, did either of the two managers have any prior experience of driving FLTs even though they hadn't been formally trained and authorised to drive FLTs? From my experience of many investigations over 35 years in OS&H I've found that some people are very quick to pontificate and condemn others despite knowing very little of the circumstances, contexts and backgrounds involved. Some replies to this thread appear to suggest that their writers are committed members of the "flog 'em, sack 'em" brigade! :-)