Celebrating National Forklift Safety Day

National Forklift Safety Day took place across the U.S. and Canada yesterday, June 8, 2021. Operations managers, warehouse managers, forklift safety trainers, employees and HR teams promoted safe forklift operation and maintenance. Here are a few things you can do to celebrate Forklift Safety Day in your own workplace.

Schedule a training refresher.

Schedule sessions for each of your materials handling employees in which you review basic principles of tip-over avoidance, signal use, battery maintenance, pedestrian collisions and other safety issues in the workplace. You can stagger the sessions if you like to keep your busy facility running while you provide a refresher course on the fundamentals.

Celebrate your positive safety record.

If your accident, near-accident or incident rates have gone down during the past year, take some time to cheer this victory with your teams. Announce the numbers, point out a few of the likely reasons these rates have dropped, and thank your teams for their effort, knowledge and caution. You can celebrate with cake if you like. On the other hand, if your accident and incident numbers have remained neutral or gone up, take some time to renew your commitment to safety initiatives and announce a clear set of training and policy goals for the year ahead. Celebrate the goals; next year, you can congratulate your teams for reaching them.

Provide safety awards.

Review the records of each of your materials handling pros and identify safety achievement metrics to apply to these records. For example, a low accident rate, a record of behaviors that set a positive example, a willingness to train and help less experienced employees, or a demonstrated commitment to safety in the workplace. Present these awards on June 3^rd with a ceremony.

Raise the bar.

Renew your focus on safety by setting goals that exceed the goals of the previous year. Increase your expectations for both managers and employees. No matter how well you’ve done, recognize that if everyone works together, you can do even better. Explain the principle of kaizen, or continuous improvement, and encourage employees to make small changes every day that advance safety without compromising productivity.

Keep the day positive.

Safety should be a positive concept, not a frightening one loaded with visions of injury and punishment for minor oversights. Building a culture of safety starts with encouragement and innovation, not threats and fear.