FLTA's safety warning
October 1st 2006

The Fork Lift Truck Association has issued a safety warning in response to two separate, fatal accidents involving markedly similar circumstances.

Both incidents involved a trained operator who had parked a lift truck but failed to fully apply the handbrake.

In each case, the load had not been lowered to the ground. The trucks had been parked on a slight slope and rolled forward, crushing the operator to death. The accidents were fatal because the loads had been left at chest height, resulting in massive thoracic injuries.

David Ellison, chief executive of FLTA, says "In both cases, had the forks been fully lowered before the driver left the vehicle, their friction with the ground would have slowed or even stopped the vehicle." The FLTA advises that truck should be on level ground to avoid unwanted movement when stationary.

Forks must be lowered to the ground, the parking brake applied and keys removed.

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