Add blue cap missing will I get sacked

ASK THE EXPERTS SAFETY, LAW AND WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE FORUM (INTE
1

Hello all hope some one can help me

Ok so I started work Thursday morning all good all correct until I take my break so of I go to mcd,s when I come back add blue cap is gone I phone my boss no reply so I carry on my round

Sounds crazy I know but I worked for one company who allowed me to drive without add blue cap so I thought it was ok to do

Get back to yard and go home return in morning still no add blue cap so I set of again to do Fridays work 1 hour in phone goes and get back to yard my boss who I phoned day b4 says oops get back here and take an add blue cap of spare lorry so he new as I told him day before when I finished round

Turns out FTA and new big boss have arrived to do a gate check ?
On Thursday found two faults on two lorry both safety related my was immediate prohibition other drivers was inspection note but nothing has been done to him and I’m being treated like a life threatening mega danger

Now I am now aware u can not drive without add blue cap
But still think this has all been well over cooked to lower staff numbers if u know what I mean as redundancy s are on the cards for some

Is add blue not an inert liquid that even if spilt is just water so not life threatening and as I have in writing that other/ old company used to allow this to happen
All I did was not put it in defect book that day

So in short I did not mark this defect not that I thought it was a defect oops on the Thursday afternoon when I got back

I’m now facing disciplinary for gross miss conduct ect

This is what they have put

falsification of company records or documentation including to obtain financial reward for work not carried out not completing the defect book
Gross breach of safety requirements likely to endanger other people or the employee
Serious negligence which causes unacceptable loss , damage ,injury; any act or omission which is likely to bring the company’s name into serious disrepute

My questions is is this a bit ott as I have in writing from old company that they did not see this as a defect a regularly allowed drivers to drive with a glove on it or rag stuffed in it
Hence I did not make a massive deal out of it but new new company are

Company I work for brought out my old company a few months back

Help people or should I drive to nearest job centre now ha ha
And if it is relevant I’m a bin man

2

Are you sure the only fault found was a missing AdBlue tank cap, or was something else found to be wrong with the vehicle or your record keeping ?

falsification of company records or documentation including to obtain financial reward for work not carried out not completing the defect book
Gross breach of safety requirements likely to endanger other people or the employee
Serious negligence which causes unacceptable loss , damage ,injury; any act or omission which is likely to bring the company’s name into serious disrepute

I don’t wish to put the boot in when things are going badly for you, but if I’m honest I’m at a loss to understand why anyone would take a vehicle out without some sort of cover over the AdBlue filler, even a piece or rag held on by string would be better than nothing.
Having said that gross misconduct seems way over the top for neglecting to use a cap on the AdBlue tank.

3

wiglywez:
falsification of company records or documentation including to obtain financial reward for work not carried out

Reading between the lines it sounds more like it’s about this part they’ve written. It seems unrelated to the adblue cap.

4

Hello sorry I’m a newish driver only worked for previous company till new company brought them out

And they allowed this on many occasions oops

And to add to it I did actually cover it sort of I got mcd’s plastic high quality tissue and got it wet and stuffed it in to top of cap 2 reasons so it if did leak would be minimal
And so nothing else would get in there

And yes I did not mark it on my defect book Thursday or Friday morning as did not realise I needed to as been told not to as not a defect

And because my boss new and did not tell me to

Also my boss and transport manager allowed me to take truck out next day Friday with out an add blue cap all they did was remove tissue paper I stuffed in there no new cap or vor notice

Just waited till midday to inform me I needed to attend a meeting

I thought that the 3 issues stated on disciplinary notice are a bit vague and make me sound like I robbed them and am some sort or crazy nutter

5

wiglywez:
And yes I did not mark it on my defect book Thursday or Friday morning as did not realise I needed to as been told not to as not a defect

And because my boss new and did not tell me to

Would you defect a missing wheel nut ? after all you have the rest surely the wheel wont come off :question: :question:
just because the boss or tm haven’t told you either way does it make it right :question:
its up to YOU no-one else to report a defect since it was YOU driving the vehicle.

The simple rule for defecting is if it came with it fitted and working ( noting some switches don’t come wired etc ) and its not working or its missing DEFECT it
If its a LEGAL requirement for it to be fitted /working DONT USE / MOVE IT till its repaired / fitted