A driver was seriously injured on Tuesday when the boom lift, he was unloading at the Royal Cornwall Show in the UK, came off the side of the trailer throwing him to the ground. Amazingly it was not fatal but could leave him with life changing injuries – hopefully not.
The incident was caught on CCTV and shows the slightest of adjustments in the steer and the wheel slipped over the edge of the low bed, the boom a 45ft JCB Hybrid, pivoted to the point where both rear wheels were off the bed – the boom tipped and catapulted the driver out of the platform, illustrating how easily such a manoeuvre can go wrong , and why it is so so important to wear a harness with a short lanyard. You can watch the video footage in our Video library Just click here.
As horrible as it is to view such a graphic illustration of a terrible incident, we hope it might be used in the training of delivery drivers, especially those working for contract hauliers. All too often they take a more cavalier attitude when unloading, compared to those working for rental companies. Every year at Vertikal Days we catch drivers who simply cannot be bothered to put on a harness, even though they usually have one in the cab. When our eagle eyed safety team stop them, before it’s too late, they typically face abuse from the driver.
We have contacted the haulier who we are told was involved but have not heard back, we cannot be absolutely sure it was the company named by our sources on site, otherwise we would publish the name given the lack of response.
All that leaves us to say is that we sincerely hope that the driver makes a full recovery, his family and friends will have been put through hell this week, hopefully that does not turn into a lifelong struggle.
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