Zero Harm at Work Leadership Program

Traffic Management Forum

Transport Strategy Group

Statistics

• Each year there are about

600 injuries involving

forklifts

• 38% of these are

serious injuries

• With an average of one fatal accident each year (The fatality is usually the result of the worker being crushed in a forklift rollover)

The most common causes of injury are:

• Falling off the forklift

• Being crushed by a forklift

• Getting on or off a forklift or poor posture

Causes of injury

Injuries suffered

Recent cases

• A truck driver had made a delivery and was unloading his vehicle when a forklift struck him, injuring his right leg

• The business pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of non-employees

• Original fine:- $5,000 without conviction plus $5,000 costs

• On Appeal the Court imposed a new fine:- $20,000 without conviction, plus costs of $7,000

Recent cases

• A truck driver making a delivery was struck by a forklift and sustained head, shoulder and thigh injuries

• The employer pleaded guilty to failing to provide employees with sufficient instruction, training or supervision to perform their work safely

• Fined $3,000 without conviction plus $7,000 costs

• External site was also charged over the incident and fined $1,000 which was increased to $7,500 on Appeal

Recent cases

• Employees were unsafely using the same area of its warehouse for both receiving and dispatching stock by forklift

• The business pleaded guilty to traffic management breaches

• Placed on a 12-month adjourned undertaking and required to donate $20,000 to a charity

• On Appeal the employer was ordered to enter the undertaking and pay $2,802 in costs

The following topics were identified by the

participants for the workshop as they arrived

at the forum :

• Forklift interaction with pedestrians

• Traffic flow

• Operator behaviour

Workshop topics

Forklift interaction with pedestrians

Why is this an issue?

Design/site– Site design/warehouse capacity – Scheduling - pressure on operators– Equipment type (side saddle etc) - fit for purpose plant

Human factors– Forklift will take the damage– Driver perception of the forklifts size (it seems small, like a toy)– Communication between operator and pedestrian– Human behaviour, are people who interact with forklifts aware of the rules?– Administrative controls - relying on individuals to comply

External influences– Enforcement– Weather– External site conditions– Unplanned work

Why is this an issue?

Design/site– Communication– Site design– Lack of effective scheduling, time slotting– No effective induction process– Uncontrolled activities and vehicles– Lack of clear signage– General congestion– Work area segregation

Human factors– Time constraints, drivers in a rush– Communication

External influences– Customer sites– Communication

Traffic flow

Why is this an issue?

Design/site– Enforcement of rules– Work demands– Operators don’t realise the importance– Communication of processes– Inductions; too much information, overload, too hard, dis-interest– Repetition of tasks, forklift driving/truck driving

Human factors– Saving time, short cuts – Operators don’t realise the importance, don’t see it as a priority– Type of operators, risk takers– Perception of safety measures (unproductive, a hassle)

External influences– Personal pressures– Inductions; too much information, overload, too hard, dis-interest– Numerous sites, different requirements for PPE etc– Training and assessment, how/when

Operator behaviour

What can industry do?

Design– Look for better options - introduce different types of equipment– Warehouse design– Speed control (automatic?)– Using fit for purpose forklifts – Exclusion zones/segregation

Administrative– Education and training – ongoing assessment of competence – Licensed doesn’t necessarily mean competent, not always competent for certain types

of plant.– Training across all of the organisation (including pedestrians)

Consultation– Improve workforce awareness of risks - demonstrate blind spots

What can WHSQ do to assist industry?

– Design standards for plant - known safety solutions should be standard– Modernising ADR’s/reassess and redesign - incorporate aftermarket solutions

Solutions - Forklift interaction with pedestrians

What can industry do?

Design– Changing the environment - improve signage (Australian standard signage)– Scheduling, then enforcement of that schedule– Speed - monitoring of site (camera)– Consistent approach; e.g. flow of traffic, at different depots

Administrative– Clear expectations– Ensure the right fleet goes into the site– Continuous review of processes etc

Consultation– Share/feed information to supply chain/other operators that you interact with– Effective customer consultation - ensure communicated with the appropriate person

What can WHSQ do to assist industry?

– Education campaigns that target smaller operators– Smaller operators have a lack of knowledge of OHS management - ‘traffic management

guideline’ for smaller operators:

Solutions - Traffic flow

What can industry do?

Design– Looking at tasks - job sharing, reduce repetition, challenging staff (up to 8 hours a day on a forklift)

Administrative– Strong leadership - set clear expectations about behaviour, and the consequences to unsafe

behaviour– Look at staff behaviour, are they risk takers Training should be done by a qualified person, ensure

competent person provides the training

Consultation– staff need to know what the hazard or risk is, so they can control the risk themselves– Worker engagement - consultation at the coal face

What can WHSQ do to assist industry?

– Streamlining the induction process and standardise for the transport industry– Provide proactive education and awareness on-site– Improve dissemination of prosecutions Australia wide to the transport industry– Targeted campaigns at smaller operators

Solutions - Operator behaviour