The risks of loading, transporting, and unloading goods moved by road must be managed to protect everyone involved in the transport operation, including members of the public.
Anything transported on or in a vehicle must be secured to the vehicle. There is guidance on GOV.UK from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on securing loads on HGVs and goods vehicles.
Assess the risks of loading or unloading
When doing a risk assessment think about:
- vehicle and pedestrian separation, to prevent people from being struck by moving vehicles or handling equipment
- manual handling, particularly when loading or unloading by hand or using pump trucks
- work at height, particularly when drivers or site staff access the load bed of a vehicle during loading, unloading or to deal with a shifted load
- load items falling from a vehicle during loading and unloading
Manage the risks
Stable and secure loads
Goods transported on a vehicle must be stable at the point of loading, without lashings. If the load is not stable, you should put it in a box, stillage, frame, or similar and then secure that to the vehicle.
Vehicle and pedestrian separation
If a driver is not directly involved in loading or unloading, they should wait in a safe place from where they can access site welfare facilities.
When the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded from one side using mechanical handling equipment, make sure the driver and other pedestrians are excluded from the other side of the vehicle in case load items fall from the load bed.
Deal with shifted loads safely
If a vehicle arrives at a site with a load that has shifted in transit it must not be sent back onto the public highway. The vehicle should be quarantined on site and the site owner and vehicle operator should work together to find a way to unload the vehicle safely.
If the vehicle is operated by a different company to the loading or unloading site, the vehicle is a shared workplace for the duration of loading and unloading.
More information
There is separate guidance on managing risk and risk assessment. It gives you some examples, templates and help with what steps to take to manage risk effectively.