Small operations “missing” the point

Small port operations should follow other marine safety initiatives and start reporting handling equipment “near misses” as well as accidents, says manufacturer Jungheinrich.

Jungheinrich believes that forklift truck users of all sizes should implement “near miss” reporting procedures if they want to reduce the number of actual accidents that occur on their sites.

Peter Scott of Jungheinrich UK said: “Every business, regardless of size, should have a procedure for reporting and correcting potential safety hazards and near misses. Supervisors and managers must encourage employees to report all potential safety hazards and near miss accidents and each report should be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and preventative action taken.

“Most large companies have near miss reporting procedures in place but a lot of smaller firms – companies that are perhaps operating fewer than five forklift trucks – often do not. A near miss should receive the same level of attention as an accident that results in a serious injury, however, in most instances, that is not the case.”

Most forklift truck accidents are the result of operator error or a poorly designed work flow area. However, virtually all accidents are preceded by a chain of events or circumstances that would have warned of a potential for danger.

”If near misses are reported frequent danger spots within the operation can be highlighted and steps taken to avoid a more serious incident,” said Mr Scott.

(Source: Port Strategy)