It has been a year of growth and development for the Fork Lift Truck Association and its members. We have looked closely at how we support our members and the public… and sought to improve even further on that provision.

The result? Some excellent events and a series of ground-breaking initiatives, while, at the same time continuing to give the industry the advice and support it expects from the leading authority on fork lift truck operations.

At the start of the year the FLTA launched two new on-line programmes developed specifically to provide all those involved in fork lift operations (from senior management to the shop floor) with practical, real-world guidance on working more safely – including an interactive tool for benchmarking the safety of any site. Safer Site Essentials is a comprehensive but basic programme available free to all members of the public while Safer Site Pro offer more in-depth information and resources and is available to the Association’s Safe User Group members.

Our 22nd annual Awards for Excellence in March once again recognised the industry’s very best products and people. It was a memorable evening – widely hailed as the best yet – thanks to fireworks, music, our enigmatic celebrity host Gyles Brandreth and an unforgettable performance from SPARK! In May, we launched Fork Truck Watchdog, a collaboration with West Berkshire District Council, which aims to put an end to unscrupulous fork lift dealers: making operations safer and more costeffective for all.

Our Safety Conference in June brought fork lift managers and supervisors from across all sectors and corners of the UK together in Coventry. There, they heard the latest thinking on best practice and learned about the ingenious safety initiatives being successfully implemented by their peers. Plans are already underway for our 2017 event, which will be held on 20 September.

In September, our Safetember safety awareness campaign asked workers across the UK to ‘Make sure mates get home safe’. It resonated with a lot of people: our free safety resources, available throughout the month, were accessed by thousands.

Most recently, we have launched a UK first: our Stolen Truck Database. It’s a free online resource that allows anyone to search for stolen trucks by make, model, serial number, or power. This means anyone considering purchasing a used truck can quickly and easily check to see if anyone has reported it to us as stolen. Of course, the more people that use these tools, the more effective they become.

As you can see, this year has seen the FLTA continue to go from strength to strength, providing the advice and resources required to help this great industry stay safe and informed. We have big plans for 2017 too, so watch this space…

FLTA

01635 277577

Peter.Harvey@fork-truck.org.uk

www.fork-truck.org.uk

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