Visiting drivers are the people who test a port's traffic rules hardest, because they meet them for the first time, often at night, sometimes in a second language, and to a schedule. This guide sets out what HSE asks for and how to check it works.
HSE's Safety in docks (L148) opens its workplace transport section with the point: "Many different people drive in docks – this includes drivers from a number of different employers and members of the public. Not all of these drivers will be familiar with the dock environment."
Its guidance then sets out the basics:
One point carries the weight of the Approved Code of Practice: vehicles not involved in dock operations "should not be admitted to areas where loading or unloading is taking place", except in emergency, exceptional circumstances, or for law enforcement.
HSE's general transport guide, HSG136, adds that visiting drivers "may not have visited the site before and may not be fluent in English", and suggests "a plan of the workplace at the entrance with clear and concise instructions in several languages, possibly including pictures."
The driver is new and the port is large. Gates, lanes, stacks and berths that are obvious to the port's own team are a maze to someone arriving for the first time.
Drivers have good reasons to get out. To open doors, check a seal, hand over paperwork, couple or uncouple a trailer, or watch the load go on. HSG136 recognises that drivers need to make sure their vehicle has been properly loaded, and says that where they observe loading, "this should be from a clearly marked, safe position, for example away from moving vehicles, or places where loads could fall."
Responsibility is shared. HSG136 is clear that "drivers are not the only people responsible for the safety of the vehicle and the load", and asks site operators to "co-operate with the employers of visiting drivers". In a port, the haulier, the terminal operator and sometimes the shipping line all have a part.
Time pressure is real. Vessel windows, booking slots and long queues all push people to move quickly. That is nobody's fault; it is the shape of the work, and it is why the rules need to be simple enough to follow under pressure.
The best induction is the one a tired driver can follow at 3am in a second language.
1. Tell them before they arrive. HSG136 asks site operators to make sure "drivers know what to expect when they arrive at a site" and that there is "a safe place for drivers to wait during loading and unloading." Booking confirmations and haulier briefings are a good place for the essentials.
2. Make the gate do the work. A clear site map at the entrance, simple rules, pictures, more than one language. HSG136 suggests weighbridges and reception areas designed so drivers can "stay in the cab while talking to weighbridge staff and exchanging documentation."
3. Define where drivers stand. Mark the safe area at each loading point, and make it a real place: visible, protected from traffic, and somewhere a driver would actually choose to stand.
4. Reduce reasons to leave the cab. Every trip on foot across a working area is exposure. Look at which tasks really need the driver out, and whether paperwork, seal checks or coupling can be arranged differently. HSE's coupling and uncoupling guidance covers the trailer side.
5. Tell them they can stop. HSG136 says drivers, including agency drivers, "should be made aware that they are authorised to refuse or stop loading or unloading for safety reasons."
All of this belongs in the port's traffic management plan, alongside the arrangements for ro-ro ramps and linkspans and yard vehicles and blind spots.
Rules for visitors are easy to write and hard to observe, because visitors are the people least likely to report a near miss. A routine check might cover:
If drivers are standing in the wrong place, the useful question is why. Usually the answer improves the layout rather than the rulebook.
L148's own list of typical dock hazards includes loading and unloading vehicles, trailer coupling and uncoupling, and unsegregated vehicle and pedestrian access: all moments when a visiting driver may be on foot. Our summary of workplace transport statistics gives the wider picture.
A port that makes the safe way the obvious way for someone who has never been there before has made it easier for everyone. More on our work with ports and harbours.
HSE's guidance is that visiting drivers should report to the site operator for instructions on the layout, which route to follow, and where to park, load and unload. HSE's docks code adds that ports should establish and enforce site rules and provide them to visiting drivers. A site plan at the entrance, in several languages and with pictures, is HSE's suggested approach.
In a defined safe area. HSE's docks code (L148) says haulage drivers should remain in a safe area while their vehicles are being loaded and unloaded, and that depending on the circumstances this may be the vehicle cab. Where drivers need to watch loading, HSG136 says it should be from a clearly marked, safe position away from moving vehicles and places where loads could fall.
Yes. HSE's guide HSG136 says drivers, including agency drivers, should be made aware that they are authorised to refuse or stop loading or unloading for safety reasons, and that this should be confirmed with the recipient when the delivery or collection is organised.
Responsibility is shared. The port or terminal operator controls the site and its rules, the driver's employer must give them adequate safety information, and HSE asks site operators to co-operate with the employers of visiting drivers. HSG136 notes that drivers are not the only people responsible for the safety of the vehicle and the load.
Generally not. HSE's Approved Code of Practice for docks says vehicles not involved in dock operations should not be admitted to areas where loading or unloading is taking place, except in an emergency, in exceptional circumstances, or for law enforcement agencies carrying out their duties.
Your drivers know the yard. Where do the visiting ones actually walk when they get out of the cab? Safety Mapping: a free two-week trial on one camera.
By Hao Zheng, CEO at RoboK · Published 31 October 2026 · Last updated 31 October 2026