The Fork Lift Truck Association has announced October as this year’s National Forklift Safety Month. The theme of the month will be: “Forklift Safety. It’s no accident.”
In the UK, there are more than 1300 forklift-related accidents each year… which means, on average, 5 accidents every working day. And these aren’t just scrapes and scratches, they are life-changing injuries involving crushed bones, amputations and even death.
“The lift truck industry works hard to improve safety, but in order to make a real difference we need to get everyone involved,” said FLTA Chief Executive Tim Waples. “This is why we created Safety Month.”
Since 2008, Safety Month has been the FLTA’s annual campaign to help raise awareness of the key issues affecting forklift safety.
But Safety Month isn’t just for forklift truck operators — it’s for supervisors, managers and safety personnel as well as those on foot who work alongside trucks.
Throughout Safety Month, a range of resources will be available on the FLTA website to help spread the campaign message. These include safety videos, downloadable posters, benchmarking tools and fact sheets, as well as materials to support inductions, training sessions and toolbox talks.
Additional safety tools and resources will be available throughout the month from the FLTA’s Safety Partner Mentor Training.
The FLTA’s Store has a range of additional tools to support you, 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. Visit the FLTA website to find out more and book your place: fork-truck.org.uk
Tim concluded: “In short, it’s about taking up the challenge and using the tools we offer in order to make your site a whole lot safer.”
If you would like recommendations on ways to make your site a safer place to work, contact your local FLTA member.
