Our very own Bernie Oliver (Warehouse Officer) has won the Fork Lift Truck Association's Safety Selfie Competition!
The competition invites those who work with, or alongside, fork lift trucks to show of their site's best new safety feature or best practice example to rest of the industry, in a 'Safety Selfie'.
Bernie was encouraged to enter by Lisa Robinson (Manager of Communications & Collateral), after Russell Barnard (Product Manager) showed her how much the competition encourages and inspires others to adopt new safety features or improve their current safety practises. Bernie won an Amazon Fire Kindle tablet after sending in a selfie of himself next to a fork lift truck in the SG World warehouse. In it, he is proudly pointing at our FLT Inspection Paddle - an integral part of our working day.
The SG World Fork Lift Truck Inspection Paddle comes as part of SG World's FLT Inspection Kit. The Kit enables organisations to carry out an inspection of their fork lift trucks by working through a duplicate checklist, ensuring that they are safe for use. The top copy of the checklist is displayed on the truck to indicate its safety, while the duplicate copy remains in the pad as evidence that the inspection has taken place in the event of an HSE investigation.
The SG World FLT Inspection Kit enables organisations to comply with many health and safety regulations, including:
* HSE guidance L117, Rider-Operated Lift Trucks - recommends fork lifts are inspected before every shift.
* The provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, commonly referred to as PUWER - states that all work equipment provided to employees must be maintained and be safe to do the job for which it is intended.
* An organisation's own health and safety regulations - organisations can include their own check boxes to suit their own regulations and FLT models.
Once the inspection is complete, assuming safety has been established, the inspection certificate can be placed inside a safety status indicator on the truck ensuring that every employee can clearly see that the truck is safe for use. Failing trucks can be similarly identified but handed over for maintenance. The duplicate copy of the certificate remains inside the inspection pad and can be used as evidence of inspections should you ever need to produce this for the HSE or other official parties.
"I'm so pleased that I've won; what a great prize," Bernie said when Lisa Robinson presented him with the Amazon Fire Kindle. "I certainly wasn't expecting it. I think I'll use the Kindle for reading - I'll be downloading lots of books onto it when I get home. The kids won't be getting their hands on it, though!" he joked.
The Association hopes that that by sharing examples of safety measures throughout the fork lift truck industry, the 'Safety Selfies' will encourage other firms to implement similar precautions, or at the very least, provide ideas for how we can all improve the level of safety on our sites.
The competition is open to anyone who works on or around fork lift trucks - operators, managers/supervisors and other non-FLT workers on site.
FLTA Chief Executive Peter Harvey said: "Every year, up to 800 workers are seriously injured, or worse, in accidents involving fork lift trucks and, frankly, that is 800 too many.
"The key to reducing this accident toll is encouraging those who work with or near fork lift trucks to think about safety on site and act accordingly.
"So we're asking everyone to put their best sides forward and show off their good practise to their counterparts across the country."
Way to go, Bernie!
Click here for the FLT Association Safety Selfie Competition Gallery