Managing Risks within Car Parks

11th June 2014

Car parks and loading bays are, by their nature, high risk areas, and a recent case whereby the managers of a car park were prosecuted following a fatal accident involving a delivery van and a pensioner bring home the importance of managing and reducing the risks posed in these areas.

In this recent incident, the pensioner was otherwise fit and healthy when she was struck by a reversing delivery van in a car park. The car park managers admitted breaching health and safety legislation and the court heard that at the time of the incident, the car park was in a poor state of repair with no clearly marked areas to separate pedestrians and vehicles.

Traffic accidents frequently occur within car parks on business premises, where motorists and pedestrians circulate in close proximity. Areas such as service yards or loading bays, where reversing lorries or fork lift trucks count as additional hazards, present even greater risks.

To help minimise accidents and ensure health and safety legal compliance, organisations must take positive steps to reduce these risks through undertaking traffic management assessments and implementing traffic management systems.

Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations is quite specific to require that ‘Every workplace shall be organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner’, that ‘traffic routes in a workplace shall be suitable for the persons or vehicles using them’ and that ‘where vehicles and pedestrians use the same traffic route, there is sufficient separation between them’. There must also be suitable warning signage in place.

An S2 general risk assessment will identify workplace transport risks and outline suitable control measures, and will indicate where a more detailed traffic management assessment is required.

The S2 Partnership’s team of specialist consultants provide Traffic Management Assessments and Audits to help identify and manage the risks within car parks, loading bays and other areas requiring traffic management. Please contact our specialist team for further help and advice.