Safety: Mixed report

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.