Did you know that the most common fork-lift truck causes of accidents in the workplace is lack of adequate training and supervision, speeding and having pedestrians in the same area as working forklift trucks. These accidents, due to the size and weight of a fork-lift can be life changing, if not fatel!
According to HSE, a quarter of all traffic accidents in the workplace involves fork-lift trucks! As an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure that all your operators have been trained to the required standards. This even applies to those who may only occasionally operate a fork-lift.
There is more to fork-lift training than learning to operate a machine. Training also involves appreciating how dangerous a fork-lift can be if not properly maintained. If machines are not maintained and safety checks not followed, there is a high risk of injury or death!
So if you are still thinking whether you really need to send your employers on a training course, just consider these:
February 2020: An international beer delivering company fined £825.000 due to a worker scarred for life having been run over by a fork-lift truck.
November 2018. A Leeds based scaffolding company were fined just over £54,000 with £8000 costs after an employee’s forklift truck overturned and trapped him underneath. He suffered life changing internal injuries.
These injuries are devastating for the individual and their families. To highlight the danger, on 9th June 2020 this year there was a virtual national forklift safety day, (https://nationalforkliftsafetyday.co.uk/get-involved), with the emphasis this year on safety of pedestrians.
Their key campaign message was
ALL SITES MUST HAVE SYSTEMS IN PLACE TO KEEP PEDESTRIANS AND CO-WORKERS SAFE FROM WORKPLACE TRANSPORT AND THE BEST WAY OF DOING THIS IS BY PHYSICAL SEPARATION.
For further information on their campaign, please go to https://nationalforkliftsafetyday.co.uk.
I hope by the time you have finished reading this blog, you appreciate the importance of quality and necessary training.
Finally, before I finish I will just leave you with the HSE’s code of conduct on training:
As an employer, you are obliged to provide basic training for fork-lift operators
Employers should not allow anyone to operate, even occasionally, a fork-lift without having satisfactory training.
