Forklift trucks are indispensable in many industries, including manufacturing, warehousing, and construction.  However, their operation poses significant risks if proper safety practices are not followed. Every year, National Forklift Safety Day serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of safety protocols and training in workplaces that utilise forklifts.

This year, National Forklift Safety Day (NFSD) 2024, organised by the UK Material Handling Association (UKMHA), is set to take place with the theme “Prevent – Manage – Learn” with the initiative spanning from June 11 to December 9, focusing on the comprehensive management of forklift incidents through a detailed seven-stage cycle.  This extended campaign format underscores the commitment to making every day a National Forklift Safety Day by continually emphasising safety practices and learning opportunities.

Key Messages and Stages of NFSD 2024
The campaign is structured around the following seven stages, each highlighting critical aspects of forklift safety:

1. 1. Prepare (June 11): Focuses on proactive measures to prevent incidents.
   2. Respond (July 10): Outlines immediate actions to take following an incident.
   3. Investigate (August 8): Guides on conducting thorough investigations to determine the root causes of incidents.
   4. Report (September 13): Covers legal and procedural requirements for reporting incidents.
   5. Restart (October 12): Details the steps necessary to safely resume operations post-incident.
   6. Learn (November 10): Stresses the importance of learning from past incidents to prevent future occurrences.
   7. Prevent (December 9): Concludes with strategies to prevent incidents, emphasising ongoing vigilance and safety culture.

Importance of Continuous Safety Education
The NFSD 2024 campaign is designed to provide a continuous stream of educational content, resources, and practical guidelines to help companies and their employees stay informed and prepared.  By spreading the campaign over several months, the UKMHA aims to embed safety deeply into the operational culture of businesses, ensuring that safety is not just a one-day focus but a daily practice.

David Goss, the Technical Director of UKMHA, highlighted the campaign’s goal:

“With the theme ‘Prevent – Manage – Learn’, this year’s National Forklift Safety Day will adopt a different format from previous campaigns. Rather than taking place on a single day, National Forklift Safety Day 2024 will be extended over different days across a seven-month period, as we aim to make every day National Forklift Safety Day”.

 
How to Get Involved
Businesses and individuals can participate by engaging with the campaign’s content, attending events, and promoting safety messages on social media using the hashtag #NationalForkliftSafetyDay.  This collaborative effort can help foster a safer working environment across the material handling industry.

For more detailed information and to access resources related to NFSD 2024, you can contact us or visit the National Forklift Safety Day website.

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Over 1,400 UK employees are hospitalised each year with serious forklift related injuries, according to the British Safety Council. What’s more, five workers each day suffer life-changing injuries as a result of forklift accidents.

Aside from the health and safety implications, there are several less visible material handling costs that can significantly impact your bottom line if your forklift safety isn’t considered a key priority.

Unforeseen equipment damage is a burden on small businesses

Warehousing already makes up a large percentage of a company’s logistics costs without taking into consideration damage to material handling equipment such as the truck or nearby pallets and racking as a result of an accident.

Equipment damage and the subsequent repairs necessary can cost businesses upwards of thousands, depending on the scale of the incident. Unforeseen costs such as these pose a significant challenge to material handling companies.

Increased downtime stalls production and harms profits

Downtime, as a result of a severe forklift accident, can have significant consequences for your businesses, including stalled production, decreased revenue and reduced profits.

Complete Material Handling MD Kevin Richardson said:

‘some operations can be so tight on time that if a truck goes down, they may have to stop an entire assembly line. So, you can imagine the financial impact of that is quite high. This is a common practice, that can be future-proofed with planned preventative maintenance 

Although it may be tempting to cut corners when it comes to implementing Health and Safety measures such as routine maintenance, equipment checks, providing adequate training, the associated costs of forklift accidents can escalate exponentially. This can be harmful to both employee wellbeing and the future of the business.

Poor health and safety culture increase staff turnover

Labour costs are typically the most considerable expense in the warehouse. In many operations, it can account for up to 50% of a warehouse’s total operating costs.

High levels of employee turnover drive a negative cycle, increasing the requirement for temporary or poorly hired staff who will not necessarily be sufficiently trained. This heightens the risk of workplace accidents, further increasing the issue.

The disastrous human cost of forklift accidents

Every accident is avoidable and is always unwelcome, but most forklift incidents are relatively minor, where those involved suffer mild or slight injuries. Unfortunately, it’s common for forklift accidents to leave victims with serious injuries resulting in long recovery periods and extended time off work.

In worst-case scenarios, a forklift accident can result in life-changing injuries or fatality. Disastrous events like these are easily preventable by implementing simple health and safety measures. If these measures are not implemented adequately, the true cost of forklift accidents including their impact on your staff and their families can be immeasurable.

Where will you end up? Compensation, fines and legal costs can be crushing for businesses.

Employers are responsible for covering employees’ medical costs should they be involved in an accident in the workplace. Depending on how serious the incident, it’s not uncommon for direct and indirect damages to range from £40,000- £200,000.

Kevin highlights how easily forklift accidents can escalate, explaining that ‘if someone gets hurt, there’s going to be an investigation, you get sued, there’s going to be court action’, and the list goes on.

Unsurprisingly, forklift accidents can be especially damaging for small businesses financially. However, paying out high legal costs can be easily avoided by taking the appropriate measures to ensure safety and providing suitable operator training from the outset.

Will your clients what to understand?

Should any or all of the above be a worry for your clients? What is the cost of a missed delivery for your business? Will they consider the poor preparation, lack of training, and your inability to deliver for them a suitable excuse?

Health and safety and crucial to reducing the cost of forklift accidents

The impact of forklift accidents can stretch well beyond the human costs, directly contributing to the total cost of ownership of your forklift fleet.

Although disregarding workplace safety measures may appear to save time and money in the short term, the financial repercussions of an accident are often widespread and costly.

Kevin emphasises that ‘If someone’s trained on a forklift, it’s a psychological thing, they buy into the ownership of the truck. They’ve got a tendency to treat it better as well.’

To prevent accidents from occurring, implementing the appropriate health and safety measures is crucial. In particular, carrying out routine equipment checks, scheduled maintenance, and frequent training, which will all play an essential part in improving safety and reducing the cost of forklift accidents to your business.

For any advice or more information on this topic. Please give Kevin Richardson a call on 0191 271 0899 or visit www.completemh.co.uk

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1. Think about increasing vertical storage

One of the easiest ways to create more storage is to use as much vertical space as possible by extending your racking upwards. Most recent buildings will have an ESFR fire suppression system, which you can store inventory anywhere up to 18 inches of. It’s essential to make sure you choose the proper racking, however. It needs to be structurally stable at the base to ensure it can support the weight of the extension. It may be worth the investment of getting a structural engineer involved to help you understand the scope of available extension using your current system.

2. Cutting down racking area aisle widths

Making your aisleways smaller can have a profound effect on your available storage space. However, you need to thoroughly think about the kind of warehousing equipment you use before implementing this option. For example, your pallet trucks are a vital element of how your logistics operations, so you must take into account their width and manoeuvring requirements when deciding how much space you can save in your racking aisleways. Even a single foot of space saved per aisle can make all the difference, however.

3. Think about installing a mezzanine floor

A mezzanine can be one of the most valuable options for increasing your available storage space, as it basically gives you a whole new storage floor. You must choose a mezzanine that’s capable of handling the weight you intend to store on it, and you should alter your inventory processes to ensure that lighter items are stored higher while heavier items are stored on ground level. You’ll need to account for the space taken up by the columns and base plates dropping to floor level, too. Despite this, a mezzanine can be a valuable addition to your storage space.

4. Change the storage medium that you use

Another option is to rethink your choice of storage medium altogether. For example, if you currently use single-deep racking, the move to double-deep racking will considerably improve your storage capacity. It’s important that you make the necessary equipment considerations too. For example, you’ll need a reach truck to load double-deep racking. With the right preparation and an understanding of how you should store your inventory most efficiently, changing your storage medium can considerably affect you.

5. Identify any underused space in your facility

You have space available you may not even have realised you had. For example, you can try to find space above shipping and receiving doors, above conveyors, and other previously unidentified dead space. This will obviously depend on the premises your operation works from, the size, and how tightly packed it is, but every single warehouse and logistics operation has unused space available. Think about sorting out your storage areas and cleaning out anything that you no longer require. This can yield valuable space in which to store more pressing and essential inventory.

Why do businesses end up running out of storage?

A lack of storage space can come from a number of different reasons. You may be experiencing an upswing in trade, requiring more inventory to satisfy customers. There may be a simple error in judgement leading to overbuying a particular item of stock. You may also be carrying obsolete inventory that has been in place for multiple seasons without being bought. Another reason is that your business is simply growing in both scale and scope.

It’s essential not only to understand how you can find more space but why you need that space in the first place. This will help you determine whether your requirement for new space is going to be a short term or long term need. Long term needs may make more investment worthwhile.

The importance of using the right equipment

Having the right equipment available is key to help you rearrange your storage space as you see fit. Reach trucks, pallet trucks, and warehouse access equipment all have a vital part to play. That’s why the services of a company like Complete Material Handling can be invaluable when you’re thinking about expanding your existing storage capacity – we have the broad range of equipment necessary to facilitate your plans easily.

Complete Material Handling is your go-to team of specialists for everything relating to the world of material handling. Whether it’s the latest material handling industry news, insight into the right products to buy for your needs, or answers to your questions relating to servicing and maintenance, we can help. When planning your warehouse storage improvement, contact the team at Complete Material Handling to make sure you have everything you need to make it a reality.

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