Safety - the number one priority
April 1st 2008 In its role at the forefront of raising and maintaining
standards in the materials handling industry, the Fork Lift
Truck Association represents the interests of a wide
membership – including dealers, manufacturers,
importers, distributors, and suppliers of related equipment
and services, as well as those who actually operate the
trucks. Key aims for the FLTA include increasing
profitability and efficiency for its members and the
industry as a whole, but there is one subject that always
comes top of its list of priorities… and that's SAFETY
Let's face it, in the wrong hands a
forklift truck can be a lethal weapon.
On moral grounds, the first priority of
anyone involved in this industry must be to
protect its workers and the public from
death and injury. The great thing is that
proper investment in safety also protects
the employer from the cost of legal action,
compensation, adverse publicity, and
damage to goods, equipment and facilities.
So everyone's a winner.
Excellence acknowledged
Each year the Association presents a Safety
Award at its Annual Awards for Excellence.
By bringing the nominated new safety
equipment and services to people's
attention, and allowing the materials
handling community to choose the winner
in a free vote, the FLTA helps to reward
achievement and encourage continued
development.
The shortlisted finalists for Awards 2008
give an idea of the diversity of these
contributions to safety…
It's an undeniable fact that in collisions
between trucks and pedestrians the
pedestrian always comes off worst. Copar
Corporation – represented by Sigma
Squared Solutions – is addressing this
problem with its Pedestrian Alert Safety
System (PASS). Essentially, PASS uses radio
signal senders and receivers which warn
the driver – by flashing lights – when a
pedestrian is detected nearby.
Jungheinrich UK went
for a very high-tech
approach to controlling
risks in narrow aisles –
with the floor control
system on its EKX Kombi.
Intelligent truck management allows lift
and travel speeds, as well as aisle-end
braking and stopping, to be automatically
controlled using RFID technology. Floor
quality is monitored and taken into account
in speed adjustment, while maintenance of
safe distances between the truck and any
hazards – including other trucks – can also
be programmed.
Traditionally, battery changing in electric
trucks has tended to involve use of large
cranes with slings, or sometimes insertion
of forks into pockets in specially adapted
batteries. STILL Materials Handling has
been concerned about the dangers
inherent in these practices… which can
lead to crushing injuries for operators,
damage to trucks and explosions through
accidental short-circuiting. STILL's safe
alternative, on its RX60 16-50 electric
counterbalance, allows lateral battery
changes using a pallet truck and just one
worker.
The Tonero Safety+ package from Toyota
Material Handling UK has combined a
number of features to offer an advanced
travel control safety system. It includes: a
load weight indicator, to help prevent
overloading; speed and acceleration
control technology, which progressively
limits drive speed with load at height and
counteracts sudden acceleration; and a
speed limiter that allows a maximum to be
pre-set for the driver.
The winner of the Safety Award 2008,
Doosan Infracore UK, presented a
delightfully simple but effective solution to
a common problem. Reversing is a
hazardous manoeuvre – to pedestrians –
and one in which many forklift trucks
spend a large proportion of their day. By
building an emergency horn into the new
rear grab handle of its trucks, Doosan has
helped to lower the risk of collision. The
driver can now sound an instant warning,
when necessary, without having to reach
forward, and with hands kept safely within
the confines of the truck.
Put this date in your diary
If you are a user of forklift trucks, make sure
you set aside Thursday 25th September 2008
in your diary – now! This is the date for the
annual FLTA
National Fork
Truck Safety
Conference.
Staged at Warwick
University, this mustattend
event will present
practical guidance on issues
and problems raised by – and
directly affecting – users of forklift trucks.
As ever, the Association is putting
together a programme of presentations, by
expert speakers, dealing with the issues of
greatest current concern to this wide
audience. For 2008 there will be a particular
focus on safe operations.
Overturning of forklift trucks remains the
greatest cause of fatality and serious injury.
The conference will look at how changes in
dynamic testing may highlight the danger
areas and help reduce the number of
incidents. Designing for safety will come
under scrutiny, with a review of what the
manufacturers can do – and have done – to
make trucks safer. This will be illustrated by
examples – including some from the Awards
– of important features available now.
The role of attachments in improving
operational safety will be examined, as will
the safety issues associated with ancillary
equipment such as batteries and tyres.
Taking a longer view, the conference will
consider how hybrid fuels may impact on
trucks of the future – including the relation
of these developments to safety.
Answers online
There are many ways in which the FLTA can
help you… and the 'new improved' website
www.fork-truck.org.uk is a good place to
explore them.
Crucially, it features a Member Finder
that will point you to the suppliers of goods
and services in your postcode area who are
FLTA members – suppliers who have agreed
to abide by the FLTA's rigorous Code of
Practice and work to the highest standards.
You can rest assured that each one has the
commitment, facilities and up-to-date
knowledge – especially when it comes to
safety issues and legislation – to do every
job well.
Similarly, there is a mechanism for
locating your nearest companies accredited
to deliver CFTS Thorough Examinations.
CFTS runs the materials handling industry's
own national accreditation scheme for
Thorough Examination – often described as
the forklift's equivalent of a car's MOT test.
For those who seek Thorough Examinations
outside the CFTS scheme there are many
potential pitfalls in terms of noncompliance
with the law and widely
varying standards of work. With CFTS there
is total peace of mind.
Elsewhere on the site you will find a
comprehensive catalogue of literature and
other useful resources which can be
ordered online. There are free
downloadable fact sheets giving advice on
issues frequently raised by forklift users –
such as best practice and legal
requirements relating to safe storage of LPG
cylinders, or rope evacuation from
mechanical handling equipment, to name
but two recent examples.
Is refresher training needed ?
This is a question that an employer must
consider on a regular basis for every forklift
operator. But it doesn't mean that every
operator should automatically receive
refresher training at some regular fixed
interval – which could be wasteful of time
and resources. What is needed is a regular
reassessment of the operator – from which
the employer can see if there are any weak
areas that necessitate further training.
A very welcome safety initiative,
supported by the FLTA, has been the online
operator assessment and monitoring tool
from multimedia experts Interactive Driving
Systems. This offers a quick, easy and very
inexpensive way of fulfiling an employer's
duty to reassess.
Virtual Risk Manager – FLT can be found
on the FLTA website – www.forktruck.org.uk – where it is available at a
nominal charge of just £25 per operator.
The package will provide personalised
written feedback and will clearly identify
any areas in which the operator may need
refresher training.
Join the club
The FLTA knows how overburdened forklift
owners and operators can be with the many
responsibilities, rules and regulations relating
to safety. To help them cope with the ever
changing legislation, understand the issues
and find a way through the paperwork, the
Association runs a Safe User Group.
As members of the FLTA Safe User
Group, truck users receive the information
they need in a form that's totally relevant,
very concise and extremely easy to use.
This saves time and money for the member
and his or her business, while helping to
make the workplace a safer environment
for everyone. Visit the FLTA website –
www.fork-truck.org.uk – to find out more.
To contact the FLTA…
Visit the FLTA website:
www.fork-truck.org.uk, email: mail@forktruck.
org.uk, fax 01256 381735, call 01256
381441 or write to Fork Lift Truck
Association, Manor Farm Buildings,
Lasham, Alton, Hants, GU34 5SL More articles from The Fork Truck Association: | 
