WorkSafe Victoria has published new guidance designed to help manufacturers avoid forklift accidents in the workplace – including one shocking stat that should make the industry sit up and take notice.
After stunning figures from Safe Work, the national body, revealed that machinery driving was the most dangerous job in Australia, further work from the state level has shown that, on average, one Victorian worker a week is struck by a forklift or by a falling load from a forklift.
Starting the week of December 9, WorkSafe Victoria will launch a new safety drive with guidance around separating workers from forklifts as much as possible, with a focus on physical barriers, exclusion zones and signage.
They will also send inspectors out with a forklift safety remit, focusing on the manufacturing, warehousing and postal sectors.
According to further data, eight people – three of whom were pedestrians – have been killed in Victoria in forklift accidents since
2019, while around 41% of all accepted WorkSafe claims were related to forklift safety.
“Forklifts are an important piece of machinery for many Victorian workplaces, however, if not used and managed safely, they also have the potential to cause serious harm,” said Dr Narelle Beer, WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety.
“Through measures such as this new guidance and the work of our inspectors, WorkSafe is ensuring employers are taking proactive steps to ensure their workers and others are safe around forklifts.”
WorkSafe reiterated that they would not hesitate to issue fines and undertakings should workplace safety be found to be deficient.
They have been proactive in the space in the last year, settling the first workplace manslaughter prosecution in 2024 with a company fined $1.3 million following the death of a worker in a forklift accident, part of a grand total of $2.4m that has been dished out in penalties.
Source: Industry Update
