2012: Dedicated 'Year of Safety'

Statistics by the HSE show that, on average, 60 people are killed every year in workplace transport accidents and a further 2000 will suffer serious injuries. Forklift trucks are involved in almost a quarter of these incidents.A new campaign launched by Toyota Material Handling UK is designed to help reduce the number of injuries and accidents

Toyota Material Handling is a leading exponent of health and safety within the materials handling world. By launching 2012 as a 'dedicated year of safety' and with its new campaign - Taking Care with Toyota - the company is committed to further enhancing its safety message.

By virtue of the huge number of trucks the company manages in the UK, it has a wealth of data on incidents, covering causes and contributing factors, as well as the means to calculate how much they can add to a company's bottom line.

Tony Wallis, operations director comments: "Toyota has always positioned itself as a provider of safe products and services, but we believe promoting safety in the workplace goes beyond providing our customers with the safest trucks, it also requires that we demonstrate to companies the benefits of training their people and putting processes in place to create a culture of safety".

Wallis continues: "In the challenging economic climate, it has become more important for companies to focus on safety, not only to protect their workers, but also to reduce costs relating to injury and damage.

As a leader in the industry, we are committed to giving people as much support as we can to work in a safe manner." A recent industrial trucks survey by Redshift Research stated health and safety as one of the top six critical factors companies consider when acquiring a new truck, demonstrating the importance of safety for material handling equipment users.

Throughout the year members of the Toyota team will attend Health and Safety events in the North, South and Midlands, performing demonstrations of equipment which helps reduce strain and distributing resources to aid best practice, including the Toyota Manual Handling Guide.

Further resources promoting health and safety in the workplace are also being produced to provide tips for forklift safety, manual handling and the correct operation of equipment. All resources will be available on request via the Toyota website (www.toyota-forklifts.co.uk) and will be available at regional health and safety shows.

Internally Toyota is focusing on providing its team members with information about healthier living and safety in the workplace and having dedicated areas in the depots that focus on safety. Toyota has started this process by creating a Safety Dojo at one of its main depots in Leicester. The Safety Dojo is a training area where visitors and employees can learn safety awareness and practices with a hands-on approach.

In addition to the UK Year of Safety, the company has extended its partnership with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) as an official partner for the Healthy Workplaces campaign for the second year. It joined forces with EU-OSHA in 2011 to promote the importance of maintenance and safe maintenance practices across Europe.