Posted By rsellars I am a teamleader who took my Cert because I knew senior management were not taking H&S seriously and I work in a coldstore which has mobile racking and some very old loading plates and I have noticed lately that sore knees and bad backs are common complaints at the end of shift and I believe it could be WBV from the shocks and jolts from loading trailers and going over the rails of the mobile racking.None of our reach trucks or t20's have suspension on them which I think could be compounding the problem. Is there any way I can show management that we could possibly be exceeding exposure limits without getting expensive equipment in.

Posted By Alan Nicholls Question Has a risk assessment been carried out? Do your flt drivers do JUST that or are they expected to load racks and stack pallets with chilled goods? If they are required to do the other tasks, are they trained in correct manual handling techniques? Identify those at risk, monitor them to see if you can modify work procedures, practices, to reduce the effects before thinking of expensive solutions. In your type of business time is always used as an excuse to cut corners. You may find slowing the flt's down while crossing ramp edges and uneven surfaces, may help a bit. Worn out solid tyres don't help either. I wait with interest for your comments. Regards Alan N

Posted By Alan Nicholls It sounds to me as though some shock tactics are required. Remind your Officer/Manager/Director, and Union safety reps that RA's are a legal requirement, failure to carry them out could and may already have resulted in injury to personnel,the risk has not been identified. They are failing in their duty of care to those working for them. Make the point with a published prosecution or two, relevant to your problems. The maintaining of Flt,s and Safe S O W would do for a start. Light the blue touch paper and stand well back, it could get messy. Good luck Regards Alan N