Covid-19 and Drivers Welfare
As a duty holder where the activities regarding loading or unloading are undertaken at your premises, not only would you have a general duty of care for the delivery drivers welfare, and now in terms of the Covid pandemic you are required to consider further control measures to protect the health and safety of drivers delivering and collecting.
Think about how to maintain social distancing for visiting drivers to reduce transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) and make sure they have access to welfare facilities like toilets and handwashing facilities at your site.
Some issues to consider are:
Driver access to welfare facilities
Businesses which receive deliveries should ensure drivers have easy and safe access to toilets and handwashing facilities. This allows risk control measures like hand washing to be put in place to minimise the spread of the virus.
The HSE are currently taking the complaints that drivers are not being allowed to use the delivery premises welfare facilities seriously, as this is an unlawful act.
Social distancing
During the coronavirus pandemic you should put in place arrangements to ensure drivers can maintain social distancing. Ensure drivers understand what they should do to follow your site social distancing rules, temporary routes can be marked out, and site rules displayed at site entrances and delivery points to remind the driver of your site rules.
If your existing facilities allow drivers to maintain social distancing, there may be no need to make any changes.
Temporary change
In the event that your premises are not designed to allow for delivery drivers to maintain social distancing, you may consider that it is better to relocate the driver waiting area, or that the driver remains in their vehicle during the unloading or loading task. Were drivers waiting areas are in use, further consideration should be given to the sanitization of the area and providing hand sanitizers were required.
Communication
To ensure that all persons involved in the use of delivery drivers, it is essential that good communications are in place, clear simple signage should be displayed at site entrances identifying the site delivery rules.
You may also consider communicating with the delivery companies that you use on a regular basis, provide them with your site rules for deliveries and what you expect of drivers when entering and using your site.
Internal communications should also be undertaken with your staff members that control the activities of delivery drivers.
Your site Covid-19 risk assessment should be updated if you implement any changes, this should be communicated to staff who control delivery activities at the premises, it would be good practice to record the communication.
Author: Paul Jackson, Health & Safety Advisor at Howarths
