UK HSE: load falls from lorry and kills cyclist

A metal heat exchanger, weighing over 2.5 tons, fell from a lorry and killed a passing cyclist. The UK Health and Safety Executive fined the road haulage company responsible. See press release. 

A heavy lorry carrying four heat exchangers collectively weighing over 10,000kg, went round a bend, when the load shifted in the vehicle causing one of the straps securing the load to snap. This resulted in one of the heat exchangers falling from the lorry, killing a cyclist who was cycling alongside the vehicle.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed that

• The heat exchangers were inadequately secured on the vehicle, which made the load prone to toppling;
• The ratchet straps used to secure the load were in poor condition;
• Although the driver was properly trained to drive the vehicle, he had not received training in load security, which would have equipped him with the means to devise a suitable securing scheme for an unusual and high-risk load like the heat exchangers;
• The driver had not been provided with a securing scheme by the haulage contractor.

HSE provides guidance on load securing online at: Workplace transport safety – Workplace transport safety – A guide to workplace transport safety

The HSE noted: “The fatal load shift was due to the grossly inadequate manner of loading and securing the load, and was both foreseeable and entirely preventable. If the heat exchangers had each been placed inside a metal or wooden transport frame and secured with a minimum of three webbing straps each, with friction matting between the transport frame and the load bed, the load would not have shifted under normal driving conditions.”