About moving goods safely

Moving Goods Safely (MGS) started out as a national project involving both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authorities (LA) working in partnership. The project aimed to reduce injuries and ill health arising from the movement of goods from supplier, through haulier to the recipient and end user including any home deliveries, by focusing upon the delivery and collection of goods and the hazards this generates. It covered the main areas that cause the majority of injuries and ill-health to workers, including:

• Workplace transport;
• Slips & trips, and;
• Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).

The movement of goods presents us, as health and safety regulators, with the challenge of dealing with a huge variety of issues. The commercial organisations involved within the movement of goods are diverse including hauliers, third party logistics providers, pallet networks, retailers etc, with some very large companies, thousands of small businesses and the self-employed. The movement of goods is more than just trucks on the road with a large proportion of accidents happening at the delivery/collection sites that are often not directly under the control of the company making the delivery or collection. Communication and cooperation problems can arise due to the many organisations involved in the movement of the goods, and this can also lead to difficulties in effectively managing health and safety.

This site provides access to information that is relevant to those organisations where the movement of goods between sites forms a fundamental aspect of their business.