UK’s leading training provider to release report on site shortcomings and solutions following industry survey.
With October now confirmed as National Forklift Safety Month 2019, employers are being urged to take this as an opportunity to review their working procedures in a bid to drive down what industry leaders describe as the “stubbornly high levels of accidents and injuries”.
According to Tim Waples, CEO of the Fork Lift Truck Association: “Across the UK there are 5 forklift-related accidents every working day. This year alone more than 1300 individuals will sustain life-changing injuries. And, as the ripples spread out, many more thousands of partners, children, parents, friends, workmates and employers will see their worlds turned upside down.”
As one of the busiest and potentially most dangerous times in the logistics calendar, the FLTA believes that October is the perfect time to focus, reassess and make positive change under the banner:
Forklift Safety. It’s no accident.
“Just as safety isn’t for a day or even a month, it isn’t just for forklift truck operators either,” 
continues Tim Waples. “It should also embrace pedestrians working on foot alongside forklifts (who account for almost two-thirds of individuals injured by trucks).
“More important still, are the managers and supervisors whose responsibility it is to make the workplace a safe space. They need to take a hard look at their practices and procedures to make sure they are up-to-date and always fit for purpose.”
The need for urgent action is underpinned by the results of a recent survey undertaken by Mentor FLT Training, the UK’s foremost provider of training for workplace transport, and the FLTA’s Safety Partner.
It contains some startling insights into why the number of accidents remains so high.
According to the research:
- More than 40 percent of managers and supervisors overseeing forklift truck operations have received no formal training to do so (10 percent of these have no experience as an operator either).
- Around 30 percent of respondents said their operators had not received all three stages of training required under ACOP L117
- More than one-third of respondents said that forklifts on their sites operate in the same area as pedestrians, with no segregation between them.
A report containing the full results of the research along with valuable guidance will be launched on Tuesday 1st October on the Mentor website and will be available free online throughout the whole of October’s Safety Month.
For its part, the FLTA will be providing a suite of resources via its website (www.fork-truck.org.uk), including safety videos, downloadable posters, benchmarking tools and fact sheets, as well as materials to support inductions, training sessions and toolbox talks.
Visitors to the FLTA’s online store will also find a range of tools to support managers and supervisors, including low-cost employee safety handbooks which spell out the dos and don’ts for anyone working on or in close proximity to forklifts.
The highlight of the month will be the National Forklift Safety Convention on Wednesday 30th October, at which all attendees will receive a free copy of Mentor’s report. Visit the FLTA website to find out more and book your place: www.fork-truck.org.uk