Hi I work for a company that makes daytime deliveries to retail parks all over the country. We are now being asked to make some of these deliveries through the night, we have asked for the stores to be reassessed at night time as we feel it's a major change to the operation, but we have been told that there is no need to do this as long as there is a corrective action process in place. I thought that a corrective action was for small type changes not something as big as the change from day to night. Could anyone give advice on this please.

Agree with Kate, don't forget to consider any council restrictions, noise nuisence, and if the risk of robbery increases in some of the remote locations as part of your "corrective actions"

The lighting issue may well already be covered if 'daytime' means '9-5'. Through a fair part of the year, that implies working in the dark anyway, so lighting should already be covered. A bigger issue is the lack of other people around, I'd think. Presumably the premises being delivered to are staffed at these times? Also, there's the issues of increased accident rate for night working generally (even when lighting etc is good, most people seem to be slower and more clumsy at night). There are also claims around that night working is just bad for your health - some research suggests higher cancer rates among night workers. I'm not sure how you factor that into your assessments.

Ian, don't forget the security risks as well. I drove for a white goods company for a few months and there were a few depots where you had to ring and get them to come and open the gates, all the while the gates were open the building was locked up until the gates were shut and they had checked the wagon for undesirables. They also had a policy of not allowing drivers to stop at the side of the road for their breaks due the high value goods on the back, you had to take you break either at the Newark Depot or at the warehouse you were delivering to/from. Regards Clive

Thank you all for your advice, security is our main concern, we do carry high value goods, the premises are not staffed at night so just a driver and drivers mate to unload, normal 9-5 hours stores are fully staffed, some places are gated some are not, some you have to walk around to the front to open up and walk back after unloading, so we still have a long way to go. Thanks again.