The trussed rafter industry could learn from the accident in Hereford last month where two pedestrians were killed after a lorry carrying roof trusses shed its load, Paul Colley, chairman of the TRA’s health and safety committee, told the meeting.
While this incident tragically resulted in two deaths, any accident had wider repercussions.
“It’s not just the fact that someone has been hurt, it’s lost time; closure of the site during the investigation; lost production; potentially the loss of a skilled worker, at least while they recover; bad publicity; a court fine and costs; there’s the potential for people to make claims; and your insurance premiums go up,” said Mr Colley.
He added that accidents also created stress, and unease among the workforce.
And he said that risk assessments were ineffective unless staff received health and safety training.
“A risk assessment is not just a matter of fulfilling a legal requirement,” he said. “It’s useless if people aren’t trained in safe systems of working – just ticking a box isn’t good enough.”
He added that at his company, Pasquill, risk information was prepared in pictorial format rather than “paragraphs of writing”, making the information more accessible for everyone, especially foreign workers.
