being very safe while loading or unloading

Both the truck driver and the warehouse personnel need to be sure that NOBODY is inside the truck when the truck driver drives off. It is NOT worth someone losing their life or being permanently paralyzed or crippled for the rest of his or her life.

 

Yup. Clark forklifts in Lexington, KY used to pay drivers to do this!

 

Practically nobody closes the dock door if I don't before pulling away, and it's the most obvious thing, they'll do all this other redundant stuff and then leave that to chance (even when they keep it locked to prevent me from opening it). I try to make it a habit to close the thing for them before walking away from the area.

 

The last company I pulled wrenches for rented a lot of aerial work platforms (Genie lifts). The yard guys were required to chock 1 trailer axle and the trailer was to be chained to the loading ramp. The story goes that about a week before I started there they were loading a lift and the truck somehow moved ahead enough to open up a gap between the trailer and ramp. The yard guy didn't notice and ended up putting the rear axle of the man lift into the gap. The drop was enough for the machine to catapult him out of the basket. He was wearing a harness so his injuries could have been a lot worse.