In my opinion; the employer is responsible for the driver whilst going to various sites to pick up and drop off cargo and in this instance the direct fall from the flat bed. If the site has contributed to the accident, for example there were pot holes in the ground that caused a fall whilst walking round the flat bed, then they would share some responsibility. However, it would be expected for your employer to risk assess this. Regardless if that site is 10 or 100 miles away. However, if the driver has climber up and fell from the flat bed itself, his/her employer will carry the can. I’m not too clued up on the fall arrests for flat bed and the cost of installing them. However, if you look at the driver falling from a flat bed and they are critically ill and off work the cost of that could be a lot. Whilst it could be argued that installing these control measures at each site is not reasonably practicable, what other control measures are in place to prevent a fall from the flat bed?

Responsible in what sense? Responsible in the eyes of the HSE or the insurer? In my experience you’ll be considered jointly responsible by the HSE – I assume your role is to load the lorries & it’s reasonable for you to expect the drivers will have to access the flatbeds and the HSE will think you should provide safe access for them to do this, either by something like a sheeting station (fall mitigation once they’re up there?) or crash mats that can be placed around the lorry. In reality if there’s an accident the HSE will probably look at the sizes of the companies involved – if it’s a multi-national haulier they will expect their drivers access arrangements to be better than a single owner-driver and will skew the responsibility accordingly. However there’s no getting around the fact that it’s your site, you’re loading them & you’re letting them access the bed of the lorry. In reality, how you do that absolutely safely every time, is a bit of a mystery. We started using ‘sheeting stations’ at one time at our sites, however it’s not possible to provide a station that meets every vehicles needs & in many instances adds to the risk, the HSE did have guidance on this but withdrew it. We also provided crash mats, but getting the hauliers to use them was a constant battle. As for responsibilities w.r.t. insurers – they’ll agree the degree of responsibility between themselves!

AM1 - you state that you are "aware of the flatbed fall protection aids that are available".... Does that include being aware of the hinged / fold down guard rails which many responsible haulage companies have (retro) fitted to their flatbeds? The drivers' employer is responsible first and foremost - and if he installs lorry mounted protection - then he doesn't need to worry how many sites his fleet visits he will know the drivers are always protected. The warehouse owner might try to insist that all unprotected flatbeds will be turned away - although this may be seen as cutting off ones nose to spite ones face... Steve