The UK material handling sector’s foremost safety campaign, National Forklift Safety Day, is this year focused on the need to improve safety in the workplace. Backed by the slogan ‘Safe Sites Save Lives’, the campaign highlights the importance of correct safety procedures in the workplace, including thorough risk assessments, site supervision, operator training and driver safety.
The campaign embraces many facets of the material handling industry, with the intention of curbing the number of accidents in the workplace involving vehicles and pedestrians.
The campaign is once again being run by the UK Material Handling Association (UKMHA), the voice of the UK material handling sector. The association’s Safe User Group will play a key role in the campaign, encouraging end users of material handling equipment to benchmark their safety protocols against best practice.
A key aspect of this year’s campaign is reducing the number of deaths and injuries in the workplace attributed to driveaway accidents.
The campaign was already underway when the significance of this year’s theme was underlined in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution following the death of an employee during the loading of a lorry. The court was told that the worker who died had been employed by a garden landscaping company in Yorkshire. The dead man had been operating a forklift truck at the firm’s premises when the lorry he was loading was moved by the driver, pulling the forklift over and trapping the driver underneath his machine.
The HSE investigation found a risk assessment had failed to consider the possibility of lorries moving while they were being loaded. The HSE investigation also concluded the systems in place to ensure vehicles were not moved during loading activities were inadequate.
The landscaping company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay £20,848.71 in costs.
HSE inspector John Boyle said the death could have been avoided if the correct control measures and safe working practices had been implemented. He warned that the HSE would not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against companies failing to implement the required standards.
David Goss, Technical Director, UKMHA said: “Drive away is regularly reported as a cause of serious injury or fatality, and sites frequently have no effective controls to prevent it, which is why we have chosen to highlight the issue as part of this year’s National Forklift Safety Day. The campaign embraces such issues and identifies ways in which they can be prevented.”
The Health & Safety Executive’s own figures acknowledge that annually, there are more than 5,000 accidents involving transport in the workplace – 50 of which, on average, result in fatalities. The main causes of injury are people falling off vehicles or being crushed by them.
Workplace transport is defined as any activity involving vehicles used in a workplace. Vehicles driven on public roads are excluded, except where the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded on a public road adjacent to the workplace.
The HSE advises that to manage workplace transport more effectively, three key areas need to be considered when carrying out a risk assessment. These are maintaining the safety of the site/workplace, vehicle and driver.
“National Forklift Safety Day is always one of the highlights of the UK material handling calendar and this year it is set to be better than ever. The scope afforded to the campaign through the greater resources of the UKMHA means we can give important issues such as site safety the attention they deserve,” added Mr Goss.
“Anyone with a stake in this important industry will recognise the importance of keeping workers safe and we hope National Forklift Safety Day will encourage more organisations to audit their safety protocols to ensure they remain compliant at all times.”
More information on National Forklift Safety Day, together with details of previous campaigns can be found by visiting www.nationalforkliftsafetyday.co.uk
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