The PUWER Regulations state clearly that the employer should carry out a thorough risk assessment on the risk of overturning taking into account the area’s in which the truck works and the duties which it carries out, and if a risk of overturning exists then the use of the restraint system should be mandatory, as you can see this is likely to lead to a considerable risk assessment operation on large sites with lots of trucks performing lots of tasks so it is far better to simply adopt a company policy of mandatory use of the restraint system unless there is a specific provable reason why wearing or using a restraint system could cause other safety issues for example if rapid evacuation from the machine may be required.

Last updated on July 11, 2009 by Michael Pearce