The need to improve warehouse safety remained one of the cornerstones of the UK Material Handling Association’s (UKMHA) safety strategy during 2023. Its National Forklift Safety Day (NFSD) and Safety Convention campaigns both highlighted the need for a safe industry, as Technical Director, David Goss explains.
Technical Director at UKMHA
The 2023 NFSD campaign highlighted the importance of correct safety procedures in the workplace, including the use of thorough risk assessments, proper site supervision, operator training and driver safety.
The safety campaign embraced many facets of the material handling industry, with the intention of curbing accidents in the workplace involving vehicles and pedestrians.
The campaign proved timely, with latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive showing an increase in the number of work-related deaths during 2022/23. The third most common cause of fatal industrial accidents after falls from height and being struck by a moving object, being incidents where people were struck by a moving vehicle.
The key aim of the NFSD campaign was therefore to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in the workplace by improving safety awareness.
The campaign also urged greater take-up of the association’s Safe Working Area Charter. The charter outlines what steps should be implemented to keep visiting engineers safe while conducting maintenance and repairs to material handling equipment at a customer’s site.
The campaign also highlighted the need for other safety protocols to be enforced where material handling equipment is in use, for example, the wearing of seat belts for forklift truck operators and the use of physical barriers to segregate pedestrians from moving MHE. This is especially important for warehousing and factories where moving equipment can often be in constant use.
Eliminating risk of injury from material handling equipment operating in busy workplaces will always go a long way towards making such sites safer and more productive environments. The association will continue to highlight this issue into 2024 and beyond.
The theme was expanded upon at the UKMHA’s annual Safety Convention, where the association issued advice that implementing an effective safety culture is a positive step towards improving site safety.
The ideal conditions for creating a Safety Culture are in an environment where every employee feels valued and more importantly, that their opinions are valued. Empowering a workforce to think safely and to ensure the safety of others is a goal all companies should strive for.
For more information on the campaigns, visit www.ukmha.org.uk
UKMHA
01635 277577
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