The trigger for bringing this up was a roll away.
Case in point: Recently I became aware of an incident involving an “unattended roll away”. Yes, a severe error with high and significant potential for damage, loss of life, etc.
This case involves the driver, not yet backed into a dock, leaving the truck to go inside. Upon return, the truck was gone. He had the key in his pocket. The truck had rolled away narrowly missing a couple of cars, and collided with a dumpster, damaging the truck.
The event occurred on a Thursday. The driver was informed that the would be required to “stand down” (interestingly, their term) until further review was complete. No other information was provided to the driver as to what to expect.
After 3 days off, the driver was offered dock work. Again no idea was offered at to how long this “stand down” order, or review process, might last. After a week it was determined that he would be cleared to drive again, after some extensive safety re-education and testing. Also there is said to be an upcoming conference call with appropriate company authorities, prior to his return to driving.
I'm curious, is the the standard procedure for this type of event? I know it has happened before, somewhere. Is there a reason to keep the driver in limbo, beyond the goal of raising his level of concern? An event such as this is
not done intentionally, and I'm
not sure if it is a cause for termination, as a first offence. The above process makes it seem that it "could" be.
Two reasons for bringing this up:
1)
I'm curious about the policy. Is it handled on a case by case basis?
2)
I think it helps to raise awareness. I've never seen a pre-shift or educational presentation on the topic, but it seems worthy.
*Note: An easy solution that can prevent many accidental roll aways?
Any time there is no wheel chock available, pull the red air line.