Showcasing talent at The Health and Safety Event

The aim of the Safer Logistics seminar and feature area is to encourage those in the supply chain sector to take a proactive approach to safety. Unfortunately, the warehouse and logistics sector still suffers from too many serious health and safety incidents despite initiatives to drive up standards in recent years.

Sponsored by Toyota Material Handling UK and A-Safe, this year’s event features support from a number of respected industry bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT), the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA), the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA), the Food Storage & Distribution Federation (FSDF) and RTITB (formerly the Road Transport Industry Training Board).

The full seminar programme for the three-day event can be viewed online at: www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk 

The key to the seminar area is the high quality of the sponsors and partners participating and the industry knowledge they can bring to bear.

A-Safe

A-Safe joins this year as Safer Logistics sponsor. They are the inventors and manufacturers of the world’s first fixed polymer safety barrier system, and the company is a leader in setting standards for the best possible deployment of safety barriers. Its recently launched iFlex product takes barrier protection in the industrial workplace to new levels of excellence.

A-Safe director James Smith says: “Health and safety should become an integral part of a company’s overall culture, not just something that is practiced in isolation. When health and safety best practice is implemented correctly, it positively affects every aspect of a business, including quality, organisation, productivity, environmental objectives and staff morale. In a well-run business, your integral procedures – of which health and safety is just one – should all complement each other and contribute to the whole.

A-Safe sales director Kieran MacCourt adds: “I hope the audience goes away with renewed passion for health and safety, because the best health and safety practices can be truly transformative for businesses. We will demonstrate how setting safety standards in the workplace, including segregation of people from vehicles, will create a more protected, more productive, more profitable working environment.”

Toyota Material Handling UK

Returning Safer Logistics sponsor Toyota Material Handling UK is committed to helping companies improve safety in their workplace. This is illustrated by the company making free safety resources available to everyone.

Paul Stokes, sales training & product development manager explains: "Safety is a driving force behind everything we do at Toyota Material Handling. From all our counterbalance trucks being fitted with an active safety system (SAS) as standard, to our BT Prolifter hand pallet truck that features a unique design that reduces the force required to get a heavy load moving by 67%.

Paul Hunt, technical training manager adds: "We want the audience to understand safety needs to be considered across all aspects of their operation. From using the safest trucks, understanding telematics in order to manage their trucks effectively and training their operators to the highest standard to having their equipment regularly maintained via a CFTS accredited Toyota Thorough Examination. Stay safe, stay legal."

CILT

Safer Logistics is proud to number many organisations among its partners. The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) is a formidable membership organisation dedicated to promoting excellence in logistics. It constitutes the greatest resource of professional expertise within its areas of interest and has run many forums designed to promote best practice in logistics safety, raise awareness of safety concerns and influence safety improvements. 

James Tillyer, manager, FORS (fleet operator recognition scheme) at CILT says: "In today’s commercial vehicle, drivers are not only faced with the prospect of busy roads, tight angles, route restrictions and height limits but also with an array of gadgets and gizmos in the cab environment which, on the one hand, can help the driver to know what’s going on around the vehicle but on the other hand can serve as a potentially fatal distraction. I’ll explain why it’s more important than ever before to make sure drivers understand hazard perception and awareness, and why driver training and development can be the difference between high incident rates and class-leading safety standards."

FLTA

The Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA) exists to maintain and raise standards in the materials handling industry and leads from the front on safety with an expansive range of initiatives that take managers and operators A to Z through forklift safety. These include the Safe User Group, the Safer Site Programme, and a top notch forklift dedicated Safety Conference, to name just a few.

Peter Harvey, CEO of the FLTA commented: “When it comes to improving safety on a site, one of the biggest challenges affecting users is how to effectively manage ‘change’ in their organisations. Another is how to convince those affected that new ways of working are better or safer than those that preceded them. Strong and active leadership from management is vital. By supporting an initiative from the very top, you demonstrate you are taking safety seriously, and it bestows a sense of focus and direction that is key to getting staff fully on board.”

Stuart Taylor, managing director of Mentor Training will be providing a presentation on behalf of the FLTA.

“In particular, we’ll examine the vital role played by managers and supervisors," he says. “Empowering managers and supervisors leads to significant financial gains, including increased productivity and efficiency, and reduced damage to trucks, stock and racking.”

Mentor offers the train gin courses; Managing Forklift Operations and the IOSH-accredited Managing Safely Forklift Operations for managers and supervisors.

FSDF

The Food Storage & Distribution Federation (FSDF) is the sole UK trade body that focuses on representing and supporting the interests of the entire food and drink logistics industry.

In partnership with the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) FSDF has developed and registered Assured Guidance in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the safe use of equipment for working at height activities within a cold store environment. 

With temperatures often reaching -30 degrees C, ice can form on floors and fixtures while the cold environment and wind chill from evaporators affects machinery battery performance. Incorporating the supplementary guidance developed five years ago to the HSE’s Guidance Note PM28, and now reviewed, the Assured Guidance helps cold store operators identify appropriate working platform and forklift truck safe methods of working fit for purpose within a deep frozen environment.

RTITB

RTITB (formerly the Road Transport Industry Training Board) provide people working in the transport, warehousing and logistics industries with the tools they need for training. Thriving in its role of thought leader, RTITB offers expertise right across the logistics world from forklifts to lorries. For many years RTITB has blazed a trail in the UK with its highly prestigious Forklift Operator Awards. Indeed, the RTITB has recently extended this competition to India. At Safer Logistics, Richard Brewer, Technical Services Executive at RTITB will present on Tackling Driver Behaviour and Risk Taking.

UKWA

The United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) is Britain’s leading trade organisation representing the third party logistics (3PL) sector. A key industry thought leader, UKWA has a strong focus on warehouse and logistics safety.

Peter Ward, CEO of UKWA said: “It is increasingly accepted that companies who take health and safety seriously are likely to be more operationally efficient than those who fail to consider the wellbeing of their workers. By making the commitment to workplace health and safety, logistics companies not only reduce the chances of an accident occurring on site, but also ensure that their facilities are operating at maximum efficiency and profitability.”

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