"Health and safety" - Engineering firm Alderley orders staff to reverse park
IT has been used to try and ban bunting from lampposts and doormats from outside flats.
Now a company is citing health and safety as the reason for a directive to staff to park their cars facing the same direction.
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One of the car parks that will be affected at Wickwar-based Alderley Systems
The 130 staff at engineering firm Alderley, on the outskirts of Wickwar, near Yate, all received an email on Friday telling them that, from now on, all drivers will have to reverse their cars into their parking spaces.
The directive was met with bemusement and anger by some staff but the firm, which is a global company, with its headquarters in Wickwar, insists it will improve pedestrian safety.
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The company denied a claim made online that the unusual order was issued to make the car park look as neat as possible, instead saying it is for health and safety reasons after a safety review was carried out.
An Alderley spokesperson said: "The request issued to employees to reverse park was based on a wider health and safety initiative and continuous improvement program that is being put in place to ensure pedestrian and wider workplace safety within the site. Other initiatives include reissuing signage to reflect the 15 mph speed limit within the premises and adding additional pedestrian crossings.
"This has become more important as the number of staff continues to grow as we employ more people in the locality; with more vehicles on site we feel it prudent to implement these safety measures.
"The policy was put in place following a risk assessment that showed that given the fact that reverse parking is inherently more difficult than driving forwards it is better to reverse park into a parking space. When leaving driving forward, it gives you greater visibility to see pedestrians and other traffic."
Alderley specialises in building meters and control systems for hydraulic equipment. The firm, which also has offices in Texas, Dubai, Mos- cow, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, has grown rapidly in recent years.
Energy firm Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) recently imposed a similar rule, with its 20,000 staff told they will be disciplined if they do not follow the regulations.
The Health and Safety Executive says it has no guidelines when it comes to parking, adding that it is a matter of personal choice.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "In general it is preferable to allow the driver a choice, depending on the car park layout or circumstance."
Last year The Post reported Burnham-on-Sea businesses were told they could not hang up bunting in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee without risk assessments and "stress testing" of lampposts. The boss of the Health and Safety Executive later branded the move "ridiculous".
And tenants of council-owned blocks of flats in Bristol were told to remove doormats, pot plants and mobility scooters from outside their homes for health and safety reasons.
18 Comments
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by grumps2011
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 6:35PM
“o come on *** if you dont like it find another job simple as that!!!!!!”
by johnbristol3
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 6:04PM
“Anyone who has visited the site will know it makes sense, for a small estate it's very busy.
The road which is access to several businesses boarders the car park , this road has many large truck movements every day , anyone who actually chooses to front park in the spaces are very inconsiderate to the safety of others,
The actual risk of hitting someone reversing in is far less likely than say maybe reversing out and hitting a pedestrian or cyclist , well done to the directors , you can't please everyone but you have made it safer for everyone.”
by BobbyH77
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 4:54PM
“Great, now leaving will be much safer as the car will be facing the right direction to see pedestrians when pulling away. Unfortunately pedestrians will be more at risk in the mornings as drivers struggle to see them when they complete their reverse park manoeuvre. Seems like a zero sum game to me.”
by bruce07
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 3:52PM
“We have just been instructed to drive home in reverse to reduce the risk of having an accident facing the late afternoon sun.”
by bruce07
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 3:51PM
“We have just been instructed to drive home in reverse to reduce the risk of having an accident facing the late afternoon sun.”
by Pogo_T_Clown
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 12:57PM
“Isn't this a sexist guideline, as it penalises women drivers more than men?”
by Raverbaby-1
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 12:37PM
“@curtishewitt
i totally agree with you, however my point was that i would imagine if a child was getting knocked down every week because drivers were reversing out of their parking spaces a supermarket would very quickly start to enforce the rule. bad press and all that. the fact that this isnt happening tells me that it isnt a health and safety issue at all because these incidents arent occuring, and if they arent occuring in areas with a high foot fall and risk factor why would they occur on a remote trading estate 200 yrds from a main road??
google map the area people - from what i can see the car park doesnt even connect directly to the road.”
by phantom1974
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 12:33PM
“On my site, we are not allowed to park facing in a Westerly direction as the sun may be too bright and affect us when going home”
by CurtisHewitt
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 12:13PM
“@Raverbaby-1
"surely if it was such common sense it would have been rolled out in high foot traffic areas long before now i.e. supermarket carparks"
Shops are less inclined to tell their paying customers how to behave than companies are to tell their paid employees how to behave.”
by katachua
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 11:33AM
“Sounds sensible to me. While drivers arrive in dribs and drabs, they tend to leave en masse at shift change. That means there's more space to reverse in than reverse out.
Also, in my experience, staff are keener to leave in a hurry than to arrive ;-)”