MKII Mercedes

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:33 pm

When does dynamic risk assessment not count and heallth and safety can be ignored?? When a driver is ordered to drive an appliance on which they have not been trained so long as they carry out self training, watch a video and make sure they dont have an accident.

Can not wait to give the duty officer a copy of teach your self to parachute, see if he watches it then jumps out of the plane!!

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:41 pm

Ok I am just adding this not sure what thread I should put it but thought it will do here.
Seems that there was a spare MD Mercedes MKII trained at the station adjacent to the one requiring a driver, we could have sent our spare Firefighter there to release the driver. Now here is the point I would like some of you to comment upon. Having told the Station Manager that having carried out a dynamic risk assessment I did not feel it was right to send our untrained driver, then having been ordered to do so by the duty officer, have they breached health and safety?
I have sent all the info to the union to see what they will do about it

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:09 am

Even if you get forced into sending the driver I'm sure he/she doesn't have to drive if they feel they are unsafe (ie untrained). I am sure this is where a personel DRA comes in, they do however like throwing this little insurance policy around when it suits them but not when it covers us. :x

I though a DRA was done by the person on the ground, if so how can anyone overule it? wonder what the union are gonna say about it?

We get it here all the time. The goal posts get moved, extended and sometimes taken off the field; god knows how we get home safetly some days :roll:

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:49 pm

As they say what goes round comes around. On the day in question our Station Manager was in on duty. I spoke to him and said having carried out a DRA I felt the driver concerned was placed in a dangerous position. His reply was the typical non supportive that I have come to expect from him, anyway long story short ordered by the ACO to send the driver on the out duty.

Two weeks past and our ALP is on a relief but can not be moved so the crew leave it there and come back to the station. The following day the Red Watch goes to collect it and it has accident damage, it appears someone not qualified to move it has and forgotten about the rear wheel steer.

Now the Station manger is bitching because he has to do the accident investigation and he’s moaning in the office, that’s the time I remind him about getting people to drive appliances without proper training.

Lets hope it’s a long report and it takes him ages