The road transport industry
now has by far the UK’s worst
fork lift truck safety record,
accounting for about a quarter of the
overall UK injury toll, according to
new figures revealed for National
Fork Lift Safety Week.

To increase awareness of fork lift
truck safety, the Fork Lift Truck
Association (FLTA) circulated a list
of industries with the worst accident
record, as well as the most improved.

The figures show a disturbing
237% increase in lift truck-related
injuries to road freight employees
since 2001/02 – meaning the industry
has gone from having the UK’s fifth
worst figure just seven years ago, to
having more lift truck accidents than
the next four industries combined
today. The change contrasts starkly
with a sustained national
improvement in the fork lift safety
record since the Safety Week
campaign was introduced.

The storage and warehousing
industry, previously the UK’s worst
for fork lift safety, saw a 77%
improvement, from 308 injuries to
71, over the same time scale.

David Ellison, chief executive of
the FLTA, says: “Storage and
warehousing had the worst fork lift
safety record of any industry, so it’s
good to see them get to grips with
the issue – long may the
improvements continue.”
The figures, extracted from
RIDDOR reports published by the
HSE, include injuries that required
workers to take three days or longer
off work, as well as hospitalisations
and fatalities.