Beware false friends!
April 1st 2006

Looking for advice on safety? Reputable organisations like the Fork Lift Truck Association and the Health and Safety Executive are always good places to start. If information is offered by an organisation you don't know, be wary. FLTA Chief Executive David Ellison reports

A few weeks ago my attention was drawn to a new website. It offered lots of free information on the use of forklift trucks, together with a regular newsletter and an advice line. Wow, I thought, this is going to make my job a bit easier.

Needless to say I had to check it out. At first glance it looked great. It was well laid out and the presentation and apparent detail certainly made it look authoritative.

Tempted to dig a bit deeper, I thought I would investigate an area I knew quite a lot about: the regulations for operating a forklift truck on a public road.

Well, I was thoroughly disappointed.

Some information was OK, but much was sketchy or misleading and, worse still, some was just plain wrong. One section in particular caught my eye. It was headed with the question: "Does my truck need special equipment?" There followed a list of equipment, most of which would not apply in the circumstances in which the vast majority of forklift trucks are used on public roads. Yet to comply with this list would cost the unwary operator many hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

If that was the standard of advice, then I would look no further on this particular website.

A little while later my conscience got the better of me. I was fortunate. I could spot the errors and omissions. But I knew there would be plenty of people who might be taken in. So, to those of you who operate forklift trucks, I say: "Beware false friends".

Don't take website information for granted.

Make sure you know who is behind the site and understand their reasons for providing information.

The web is a fabulous tool, but it does harbour false friends. Take care!

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