A company tipper driver had finished tipping a load at a customer site and, on checking the vehicle body camera, saw a small amount of frozen product still in the rear. The material covered the steps inside the vehicle body making it unsafe to gain access. With the tipper body still raised, the driver went to the rear of the vehicle and attempted to remove the material by swinging the tailboard against the vehicle body using the palm of their left hand. After one attempt an employee of the customer joined the driver, and they struck the tailboard twice more. Some of the product was dislodged and the driver then swept off the tailboard. On walking back to the vehicle cab, the driver felt a pain in their left hand and on the journey back to the quarry the hand started to swell. The driver was taken to hospital and was diagnosed with a sprained left hand.
The image below shows the position of the drivers hand - on the right hand side on the warning notice.
Safe Systems - Due to sub zero temperatures, the vehicle was not pre-loaded the night before to reduce the risk of the load freezing overnight.
Safe Systems - Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) were in place for the task of entering the vehicle body and the safe removal of product from the vehicle body.
Competency - The driver was fully trained in SSOW required to complete the task.
Process - The driver correctly identified the risks of entering the vehicle body in icy conditions, but then failed to follow the SSOW and attempted an unsafe procedure to remove the material.