Rank: New forum user 
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A small (6 part time employees) retail business has a very casual verbal agreement with a neighbour to occasionally borrow their forklift truck to get pallet deliveries from trucks to the storeroom. The stock sometimes includes flammable liquids. The car park has a pothole and no safety markings. The forklift truck is ancient, not maintained or inspected and I have no idea about insurance. There are no officially authorised or trained employees. How would you even begin to advise the shop owner/employer?! Thank you in advance.
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Niknok, Seems like quite a dilemma! Going by what you've said in your post it's clear to see that the company are not exactly taking H&S seriously. For that reason, you can foresee that an accident will eventually happen if nothing changes. This could be used as a starting point. You could speak to the powers that be and ask them what they think will happen to them if an accident happens (or if a no win no fee claim gets put in against the company). You can then use this to outline the sorts of documentation and information that would be requested by either the courts or the HSE. For example, service/maintenance records, written agreements regarding using the neighbour's forklift, employee training records, workplace inspection reports, SSoW for the loading/unloading tasks to name a few.
Remind them that the onus of disproving claims and defending allegations lies with the employer and if the requested information or documents aren't readily available, they can guess what the outcome of the case will be and it won't be good for the company's reputation, financial position or employee morale. Failing all of this, a phonecall to the HSE could take place as a last resort. Edited by user 27 November 2017 12:51:36(UTC)
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 2 users thanked Sgallacher27 for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Are you paid by either company to provide SHE advice? If not you can point them in the right direction or contact HSE and inform them through the notification portal as previously stated, see link below:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/concerns.htm
If you are you should discuss with the employer the issues and concerns you have and document the conversation, something as simple as a follow up email with items discussed. Undertake a risk assessment of the activity refering to relevant legislation and HSG documents. The risk assessment should include a plan of action with clear lines of accountability and timescales for completion on the issues raised. This should be discussed with the employer at each stage and hopefully you will get engagement and a positive outcome.
That way you are complying with the law and your duty of care, but also placing clear accountability onto the employer(s) to close out risks identified. You could then follow this up at suitable intervals to ensure agreed actions are being closed out accordingly.
If this does not happen then the HSE should be contacted.
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1 user thanked Woolf13 for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Hi Niknok,
Good advice in both previous replies BUT it is no good reporting your concerns to the HSE as they do not enforce H&S in retail premises. If you need to tell an enforcement body then contact the Environmental Health Officers at the Council responible for the area in which the business ooerates as they have the role of enforcement in retail premises.
Take care
JohnC
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1 user thanked johnc for this useful post.
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