Rank: New forum user 
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Hi - I'm a newbie, I have a question for the the safety professionals. In the world of concrete batching plants, what levels of safety are required and who's responsibility is it? Example. the Batching accepts a new supplier, the supplier makes the product, but uses a contract company for the delivery. Obviously the plant is responsible for all and to provide a safe place of work to all and this will be laid down in sites rules, pretender audits and site induction, which is applicable to both the new suppluer and the haulier.
Is the supplier responsible for assessing the site prior to any delivery (eg couplings, safety showers, HGV access etc) and provide the haulier with hazards they may find? The hauler, should also carry out dynamic assessments on initial deliver followed by an annual review or should they carry out their own pre delivery assessment of the site prior to sending vehicles to site? Does the supplier have any responsibilities to others (the site and / or the haulier) Its all a little catch 22 to start the process and close the loop on a safe for everyone. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated. Pete
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Welcome to the forum.
I haven't worked at a concrete plant, but in other kinds of manufacturing, so I don't know any specifics about practices in the concrete industry. What I say below is based on other kinds of manufacturing.
There aren't any fixed rules about this - each party will do what it considers necessary and proportionate to the risks involved and in so far as the other parties will cooperate. As you suggest, the site is where it is all happening and so the site has the primary responsibility for the operations there.
Hauliers generally just haul (and load and off-load) stuff and expect to find site rules and adequate facilities at their start and destination points.
It's not clear to me what exactly the suppliers are doing in this case. Are they operating processes on site or just sending materials to be processed? Contractually are they a supplier or are they a customer of the site?
It might also be useful if you said which party you are representing, as that will affect what you can practically do and what obstacles you might encounter.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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The default responsibility is always with the site controller either permanent (owner) or temporary (main contractor) dependent upon contract. The supplier, and ultimately their chosen haulier, can only act in accordance with how they have been instructed i.e. with no instruction those responsible for the site are seriously wanting. Supplier contract not correctly specified and again it is back to the site.
Haulier contract not correctly communicated and that is on the supplier PROVIDING the customer instruction to the supplier was itself implicit. In an ideal world the supplier would make an assessment before entering contract and similarly their haulier would also assess the site prior to engaging for deliveries - in reality contracts are enacted in offices which means practicalities are often overlooked as the focus is always on the commercial terms. At the end of the day when the proverbial hits the fan the court decides who failed, and is responsible. If you are responsible for site you ensure nothing happens you do not wish to stand behind in a court of law. The adage being "your site = your rules" just be aware if your rules are too onerous or just plain wrong others will not participate. You talk about drivers conducting dynamic assessment - I will always side with a driver who refuses to do anything they personally consider to be unsafe even if it means a missed delivery.
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Rank: Super forum user
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The default responsibility is always with the site controller either permanent (owner) or temporary (main contractor) dependent upon contract. The supplier, and ultimately their chosen haulier, can only act in accordance with how they have been instructed i.e. with no instruction those responsible for the site are seriously wanting. Supplier contract not correctly specified and again it is back to the site.
Haulier contract not correctly communicated and that is on the supplier PROVIDING the customer instruction to the supplier was itself implicit. In an ideal world the supplier would make an assessment before entering contract and similarly their haulier would also assess the site prior to engaging for deliveries - in reality contracts are enacted in offices which means practicalities are often overlooked as the focus is always on the commercial terms. At the end of the day when the proverbial hits the fan the court decides who failed, and is responsible. If you are responsible for site you ensure nothing happens you do not wish to stand behind in a court of law. The adage being "your site = your rules" just be aware if your rules are too onerous or just plain wrong others will not participate. You talk about drivers conducting dynamic assessment - I will always side with a driver who refuses to do anything they personally consider to be unsafe even if it means a missed delivery.
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