I have on good authority that the photograph Amanda is referring to was an aircraft de-mountable fuel tank [empty I think - but not too sure] and not a missile!

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Amanda Dowson

To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]

Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 9:45 AM

Subject: Re: Fork Lift Truck drivers

I agree with you, FLTs are not health surveillance, they are fitness for work assessments.

The HSE's guidance notes on "Safety in Working with Lift Trucks" (HSG6) gives guidance on the medical standards for lift truck drivers and states that the assessment should be done at pre-employment and at five yearly intervals from the age of 40 up to the age of 65 where they should have annual assessments.

The Assessment is also recommended after an absence of more than 1 month or after a shorter absence if it is likely that the illness may have affected fitness to operate lift trucks, or if there is concern that they have a health problem that is affecting their abilities to drive safely.

I think that we are getting confused purely with terminology rather than selling our souls to management for financial gain.

Did anyone see the email round robin that was entitled "Health and Safety Awards" where an FLT, carrying a missile had fallen off the edge of the loading bay drop? If there was ever a business case for developing a urine dip test to diagnose stupidity that was the it!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Carole Wallace [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 31 March 2004 18:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Fork Lift Truck drivers

I'm up to be proved wrong on this but FLT driver "medicals" were never Health Surveillance. Rather they sprung from the problems some employers faced after years of putting the deaf, the blind and the daft on to FLT's when they could not find anywhere else to put them. These were the days when you found work for your employees, somewhere, anywhere rather than let them go if they had enough service in and they had served you well!

Again if my memory serves me fatalities involving FLT's caused HSE to look at Safety and Training for Lift Truck Operators and there later followed guidance on Medical Fitness for operators. Most employers turned to their OH departments who taking note of the guidance from HSE, Medical Aspects of Fitness to Drive and DVLA guidance for Medical Practitioners on Standards of Fitness to Drive developed Health Assessment for this group of employees taking the standards set for HGV drivers as the norm.

Going back to the enquiry earlier this year on health surveillance for Fork lift truck drivers I was surprised at what some people were doing - and making money from! I made separate enquiries via an HSE contact, who made it quite clear at the time where the question first originated, and this is the official HSE response:

There is no regulatory requirement for health surveillance for FLT operators.
>
> There are certain regulations which specify when health surveillance will
> be required (such as COSHH). Health surveillance should also be introduced
> where the risk assessment shows that all of the following 4 criteria apply:
>
>    There is an identifiable disease or adverse health condition related to
>    the work concerned; and
>    valid techniques are available to detect indications of the disease or
>    condition; and
>    there is a reasonable likelihood that the disease or condition may occur
>    under the particular condition of work; and
>    surveillance is likely to further the protection of the health and
>    safety of the employees to be covered.
>
> Unless these four criteria all apply when considering FLTs, there would
> have to be a specific regulation that would impose health surveillance for
> FLT operators.
>
> There is therefore no legal duty on employers of FLT operators to put in
> place health surveillance programmes unless all of the four criteria above
> apply. Whilst a certain level of health monitoring may be desirable, there
> is no legal requirement to do so. The guidance "Safety In Working With Lift
> Trucks" refers to gives advice for OH professionals about the
> medical fitness of operators of rider-operated lift trucks. However, as it
> states, the "standard should be regarded as a guide which can be adapted to
> individual circumstances". The status of this is purely guidance.

Hope this helps clarify things a bit and we can get back to some evidence based practice and not a lot of nurses and doctors doing 'medicals' because they are nice little earners.

Greta Thornbory
> Consultant, Occupational Health & Education
> www.gtenterprises-uk.com
> Tel: 01235 770156
> Mob: 07778 518 027

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