Health and Safety Executive

Load safety

Transport vehicles

Unsafe loads on vehicles injure more than 1,200 people a year and cost UK businesses millions of pounds in damaged goods. Here we show you how to secure loads safely on vehicles.

What can happen?

How to secure loads safely

To secure a load safely you need to make sure it is:

  • restrained - tied firmly down to the load bed; and
  • contained - it can’t move around (shift) inside the vehicle.

Planning load handling

Planning how you secure the load is an important step to keeping workers safe.

Publications from HSL

More things to think about

There are many other things you can do to keep safe while you are handling loads.

  • Preventing falls from height
  • Preventing slips and trips
  • Segregation
  • Safe manual handling
  • Personal protective equipment