Workplace transport checklist

If your premises include areas used by vehicles, you will have obligations under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Our workplace transport checklist will help you to assess whether you’ve done all you should and to identify if there are improvements to be made.

What it covers

The checklist covers general vehicle safety issues affecting the average workplace. To keep it simple, we have not covered the safety of drivers once off the premises, nor specific activities such as sheeting, tipping, lifting operations, coupling or uncoupling.

All vehicle routes

Traffic routes need to be properly constructed and suitable for the type of vehicles using them and hazards must be identified and highlighted. The first part of our checklist therefore focuses on issues which will affect every business with on-site vehicle routes. Examples include the construction of routes, whether they are large enough for the type of vehicles and whether pedestrians are protected from moving vehicles, where possible. Some of the very specific questions may not apply to your particular workplace, in which case you should simply mark them as not applicable.

Loading and unloading

The second section examines basic issues affecting loading and unloading operations. For example, we ask whether equipment used is compatible with the loads being manoevered and whether the work takes place safely away from pedestrians.

On-site transport

If there are vehicles moving around on site such as fork lift trucks or tugs, there will be additional risks. The final section of the checklist covers driver safety and vehicle condition, e.g. training, familiarisation, site rules, formal authorisation, vehicle suitability, maintenance and routine inspection.