TRAINING
TRAINED FORK TRUCK OPERATORS LIFT SAFETY STANDARDS AND LOWER BUSINESS COSTS
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Improved forklift safety, lower running costs and reduced downtime are among the many benefits that lift truck operator training will bring to a business, says Nick Faulkner, training manager of Toyota Material Handling UK...
hile the
rate of fatal workplace accidents involving a lift truck has been on a downward
trend in recent years, the number of serious fork- lift-related incidents recorded in the UK remains stubbornly high at around 1500 every year. In- deed, if you type ‘forklift truck accident’ into your search engine you’ll get a seemingly endless list of links to stories that highlight the injuries suffered by workers when the materials handling equipment that they had been operating or were working close to was not operated safely and correctly.
Workplace accidents often come with a huge physical and psychological cost for the victim and their family, and any employee or employer found to have contributed through their negligent attitude to workplace safety can expect to receive a stiff penalty. When, for instance, the action – or, more usually, the failure to act – of an irresponsible employer is considered likely to have been the
main contributor to a serious workplace accident, a charge of criminal negligence can be brought against the ‘duty holder’. The ‘duty holder’ is usually a director of the company or a member of its senior management team and in extreme cases, this person can be sent to prison if the company has fallen critically short in its ‘duty of care’ obli- gations to its staff.
Generally, however, the punishment handed down by the courts to a company or individual deemed responsible for a forklift-related work- place accident is usually a financial one. The sums involved are significant: the average fine imposed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for health and safety breaches has more than doubled in the past five years and now stands at nearly £98,000. Plus, of course, com- pensation claims arising from the incident will al- most certainly add significantly to the final total.
TRAINING IS KEY
Given that most lift truck related mishaps tend to be a result of operator error, the management and
40 WINTER 2024 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLIANCE
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