Concrete Mixer Drivers - Part 2: The Experts.

After writing my last article 'How Hard Can It Be', I've had a lot of support and I've also been sent few things that highlight how 'unique' the Readymix Concrete Industry really is. Some involve specific companies, which I won't share for obvious reasons, others are more generalised on how the Industry operates. I do however, have enough of my own personal experiences to write a book on.

Before and during the inception of U.K Truckmixer Training, I was/am a concrete mixer driver, with 27 years 'experience'. I don't profess to be the best driver/operator out there and although I've seen a hell of a lot of things, I haven't seen it all [any mixer driver will tell you, every days a school What I have done is identify a 'gap' in the training needs for mixer drivers, which has sadly, and unbelievably, been lacking for, at least, the past 27 years.

Without concrete, there would be no construction and without mixer drivers the concrete would never get to site. These are the most unique vehicle on any roads, yet, some people involved in the industry, are experts on them and are constantly telling drivers how it should be done and what they're doing wrong. 'Experts' who don't hold an HGV licence, have never even sat in one, don't know how to operate one and have never delivered concrete under pressure, within a time limit, on a site that’s knee deep in mud, in the dark, whilst constantly been told "you're late". Some of the things I've personally been told by these 'experts':

• "Everyone else does it" [I'm not everyone else]
• "We've always done it this way" [that doesn't make it right]
• "The site manager has said it's fine" [only because he/she's under pressure to pour the concrete]
• "Just do it this once and we will have it sorted out for the next load" [what happens if it goes wrong 'this once']
• "Do you want me to do it for you?" [No thanks]
• "We will just get someone else to do it" [so you know there's a problem and you're quite happy to put someone else in harms way because I've refused?]
• And my all time favourite...…. "Your just a driver"

As mixer drivers, we operate in ever changing environments, sites that are constantly changing by the hour. Environments where safety is paramount until the concrete arrives, then its different. Environments where we need eyes in the back of our heads, there's that much going on. We deal with stress, traffic, site issues, customers, etc, whilst constantly under time pressure.

So for the last 4 years, I've been trying to raise awareness by empowering drivers to make informed decisions without compromising safety. I've also developed a JAUPT approved CPC course for mixer drivers. Which brings me to training, or the lack of industry recognised, standardised training. For years this industry has 'preached' safety, and rightly so, but for the life of me, I can't understand why mixer drivers have been ignored. The law is quite clear on this, the only requiremnt is to hold the appropriate licence for the size of the vehicle, nothing else. Lawfully, thats fine, morally, its wrong. Whether its down to cost, attitudes, time, I can't answer that. Maybe this next section will make you understand why its essential we train mixer drivers:

Driver suffers crush injury and amputation after poor safety training

A member of Unite the Union from Birmingham has received damages after suffering a crush injury to his hand and the partial amputation of his thumb because he didn’t have adequate safety training at work.

At the time of the accident, ***** was working for ********** delivering cement to various locations across the West Midlands.

He had unloaded cement from the mixer at one job and was cleaning the machine. He was meant to wash it out with a hose pipe but it was faulty, so he was told to clean it manually instead.

He was cleaning the mixer with his hand, reaching into the machine’s shutter door. In doing so, he positioned his left hand on the power box to steady himself so he could lean into the machine, when he accidently knocked the handle that operates the machine.

The mixer fired up and dragged ***** right hand into the machine, causing a crushing injury and several lacerations.

He was taken to hospital where doctors informed him that the damage to his thumb was so severe that he would have to lose the tip of it.

Two days after his accident, ***** was dismissed by his employer and spent months looking for other employment.

He contacted Unite Legal Services who instructed one of their Legal Panel Firms and accident at work specialists, Thompsons Solicitors, to investigate a compensation claim on his behalf.

***** said: “My manager had told me to clean out the mixer by hand, so I assumed that it would be safe to do so. If I hadn’t been given faulty equipment to use or at least given some sort of training on how to safely clean the machine, I wouldn’t be in this mess…

“Finding out I’d been laid off through no fault of my own was quite literally an insult after injury and I couldn’t get straight back onto the job market because of the damage to my hand. I’m lucky that I had the backing of my union Unite to make sure that my employer was held to account for what has happened to me.”

West Midlands Regional Legal Officer from Unite the Union, said: “***** had unfortunately been ill advised and that, coupled with inadequate equipment provided by his employer, led to this avoidable injury. If ***** hadn’t reacted as quickly as he did by removing his hand from the machine then a further extensive injury could have been caused.”

“Fortunately, ***** has been able to regain the use of his hand but his injury and the experience of it will stay with him for the rest of his life. Employers need to understand that if they don’t provide reasonable protection for their staff, then they, as well and their employees, will suffer repercussions for their negligence.”

***** received a five figure pay out.....

Expanding further on that incident, its becoming more and more of a common occurrence for customers to specify, to the supplier, that there's no 'wash off facilities'. Now that's fine if a vehicle is fitted with a wash off box [and its serviceable], unfortunately, not all vehicles are. So the only way to clean down the chutes and guide hoppers is by hand [as above], not to mention climbing on the back of the mixer because you can't reach from the access ladder. Its also a 'legal requirement' for a driver to wash off before entering the public highway, any spillage will result in a fine and a prohibition notice [don't take my word for it, contact the DVSA]. again though, we are constantly asked and encouraged to do this. Remember, employers have a 'Duty of Care' for the Health and Safety of their employees, and that includes contractors [OD's]. There also needs to be accountability, somewhere along the chain, as this will only get worse [someone is agreeing this with the customer].

Over the past 4 years I've tried to raise awareness of the potential dangers which comes with driving mixers, rollover incidents, H&S, incident prevention, etc. Some have bought into it, others haven't, which is fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My opinion, for what its worth, is that these 'problems' are every day occurrences, across the globe, which shows, as an industry, we need to do more. Not just on-site but on the road, stop taking chances and hoping for the best. Real change comes with real action.

I'll leave you with five things I remind drivers, when they get to site. If they say:

• "Its solid underneath"............. Its not.
• "We've had artics down there"......... They haven't.
• "The last driver got in no problem"......... They didn't.
• "You won't be here long"............ You will.
• "We'll watch you back, its a bit tight"......... They won't and if you do damage anything, its your fault, not theirs.