Work safely near forklifts

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A 36-year-old man died of his injuries after being hit by a forklift in Delta, BC on January 20, 2015.

“Emergency responders were not able to help the man, who reportedly died at the scene,” reads this recent story from the Delta Optimist News: Man killed in Delta industrial accident.

My heart goes out to the loved ones who lost this young man. It’s also another example of trauma for first responders to process, as I wrote about in my recent post Protecting mental health of front line workers.

A contact at WorkSafeBC, who works to prevent this very type of accident, suggested I write about this. He and his colleagues – safety professionals – ask themselves if there is anything else they can write to stop people from dying in this way.

Much is already written – for example, this video series: Fields of Vision: Pedestrian Safety Around Forklifts.

And this WorkSafeBC accident investigation slideshow: Forklift crushes worker – and WorkSafeBC Hazard Alerts by equipment: Forklifts.

As you can see, the risk affects workers in many different industries, from agriculture (Rack of seedlings topples off forklift, crushes farmer) to manufacturing (Worker crushed under load when forklift tips).

It just shows that no matter how much we write about important topics, we have to keep talking about them. As long as injuries keep happening, we have to keep reminding people.

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Jimmy has a wide range of experience working with heavy machinery which started at a very young age. He was raised on a family farm where he drove tractors and helped out where he could. Eventually, Jimmy took to the roads and began driving large commercial vehicles.

After gaining over ten years of valuable hands on experience, Jimmy went into the Occupational Health and Safety program at BCIT where he learned to apply the various aspects of health and safety into the real world.

Jimmy found himself working for the Trucking Safety Council of BC shortly after graduating. This is where he works as an Occupational Health and Safety Advisor. He enjoys helping companies reach their health and safety goals by providing advice and resources.

During his free time Jimmy enjoys staying active and playing sports or spending time with family. He is also a sports fan who often watches a game when he can.

Contact Jimmy for help with your health and safety initiatives at jimmy@safetydriven.ca.


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