In general we do not allow employees to access the back of vehicles when loading unload equipment when it arrives in our yard. But sometime(s) it is just not possible due to the equipment. The employees are use to going up onto the back of the truck, evaluating the load and then hooking on the slings / or web slings. We do have ladders for the employees to get on and off but once they are on the truck, they are working at height and we should try and prevent them from a fall. I cannot hook them on as there is nothing to hook them onto except fresh air, but I was looking into Air bags around the trailer. Does anyone have the same problem , or has worked this out and what do you do in your organisation. Any information / comments greatly received. Thanks in advance

We work on the back of flat bed vehicles and vehicle mounted crane lorries. On the flat beds we had a platform fabricated on lockable wheels that could be pushed along side - not sure if this would work. Height of bed and about 3m long x 1m wide If you had a HIAB or Palfinger type delivery you could look at positioning the crane jib high over the bed of the vehicle and hooking on a harness (Have a rescue plan in case) I have also seen on flat beds upright posts along the edge with removable netting in between to reduce the risk of falls Regards SW

I worked for a structural steel fabricator some years ago and we had the same problem with the slinging of steel off and on flatbed trailers. We used the Easi-edge nets fall protection and we also used a fixed gantry platform for our haulier’s drivers to use when strapping and chaining the loads onto the trailer. I think the main consideration for your choice of fall protection will be how quick and easy it is to set up safely for use and how it fits into the area for loading/unloading. The Hares engineering example on the HSE Falls from Vehicles campaign is an example where you could either set it up as a permanent fixture to drive trailers into or as a mobile system. www.hse.gov.uk/fallsfromvehicles/cs10.pdf If it’s not easy to use drivers and loaders may risk not setting it up especially to retrieve from or “top off” a load of only one item. From the task description you gave in your post I think the system Lawlee45329’s described could be worth considering. (I have no connections to the firms mentioned in this post) Geoff

You may find this useful, google BCSA D208 ( sorry can't put link, it's a pdf) Its related to construction and steel delivery's, but if you scroll through it you will see many options which may solve your problem ( some noted above).

Thanks for all your information folks and Private Mail Much Appreciated