The United Kingdom has declared this week National Fork Lift Safety Week. As far as we could tell, there is no similar awareness week in Massachusetts or the rest of the United States, but perhaps it’s time.
According to stats recently released by the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA), 43 people, including two teens, are likely to be seriously injured by fork lift trucks in the UK over the next week.
Statistically speaking, this would include eleven serious, long-term injuries such as amputations and twenty pedestrians hit by a moving truck. Fatalities involving fork lifts occur on average every six weeks, and that rate doubles in September as companies add staff in preparation for the end of the year.
FLTA’s chief executive says managers and supervisors need to do a better job of enforcing safety regulations and training staff to avoid fork lift accidents.
Source: National Fork Life Safety Week, Abeceder.co.uk, September 19, 2010
Contact the Massachusetts construction accident attorneys at Altman & Altman if you have been injured on the job.