16 DC VELOCITY JULY 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
The Industrial Truck Association (ITA), which represents
forklift manufacturers and suppliers of associated components
and accessories, sponsored the sixth annual National Forklift
Safety Day in Washington, D.C., on June 11. The event educates
customers, government officials, and other stakeholders about
the safe use of forklifts and the importance of proper operator
training. Among the day’s highlights:
b ITA President Brian Feehan and ITA Chairman Scott
Johnson led off with overviews of National Forklift Safety Day’s
purpose and accomplishments. The industry contributes $25
billion annually to the U.S. economy, Johnson said. ITA esti-
mates that there are 4. 5 million forklift operators in the U.S.;
with that number growing, forklift safety is more important
than ever, Johnson noted.
b According to Loren Sweatt, acting assistant secretary,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 54
forklift-related fatalities and about 7,500 accidents involv-
ing days away from work were reported in 2017. Violations
of OSHA’s powered-industrial-truck standard rank seventh
among the 10 most-often-cited violations of OSHA regulations,
she said.
b Charles Brooks of Risk Consultants of America said the most
common causes of the forklift accidents he sees are improper
load handling and management; inadequate job design and/
or failure to follow the forklift manufacturer’s and/or general
safety guidelines; and unsafe warehouse layout and poor facility
“housekeeping.”
b National Forklift Safety Day Chairman Don Buckman chal-
lenged ITA members to “move forklifts out of OSHA’s ‘Top
10’ violations list.” He also urged more attention to pedestrian
safety. By way of example, he cited some of the pedestrian safety
measures adopted by his own company, Hyster-Yale Group,
which include requiring pedestrians to wait until operators
acknowledge their presence with a wave before they cross the
forklift’s path, and restricting the use of mobile phones to des-
ignated areas that are isolated from forklift travel paths.
b Safety programs that take human behavior into consideration improve compliance, said Brian Duffy of Crown
Equipment Corp. His company trains employees to observe
and respond to peers’ unsafe behavior in a supportive way—for
example, by expressing concerns about the co-worker’s safety and by coaching rather than criticizing. Consequences are
designed to strengthen or weaken behaviors as appropriate, he
said.
Attendees also visited Capitol Hill to advocate for forklift safety and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),
and to voice opposition to punitive tariffs against Chinese products and materials used by U.S. forklift makers, among other
topics.
—Toby Gooley
National Forklift Safety Day 2019
focuses on progress, best practices
newsmakers
Photector, a company dedicated to protecting logistics and transportation companies from paying for shipping damage
they did not cause, has hired Neal Gehrig
as senior director of sales, Josh Evans as
vice president of product, Bonnie Hanson
as head of brand and marketing, and Dan
Holmoe as director of user experience and
design. … Kleinschmidt Inc., a provider
of electronic data interchange and B2B
data-integration services, has hired Timothy
Leonard as senior vice president of business
innovation. … The members
of the American Waterways
Operators, the national tugboat, towboat, and barge
industry association, have
elected new leaders. Scott
Merritt, former COO for Foss
Maritime Co. LLC, was elected chairman, and Arthur F. Mead, vice
president and general counsel at Crowley
Maritime Corp., was elected vice chairman.
… The Transportation Marketing & Sales
Association (TMSA) has named Don Friddell
chief marketing officer and chief operating
officer. … The Healthcare Supply Chain
Association’s board of directors has named
national healthcare expert Khatereh Calleja
president and chief executive officer. Calleja
joins the organization from AdvaMed, an
association representing manufacturers of
medical devices, diagnostic products, and
medical information systems, where she
served as senior vice president of technology and regulatory affairs. … Crowley
Logistics has named LaSonya Hill vice president of customer care. … Life Storage
Inc., a national owner and operator of self-storage properties, has welcomed Steve
Syverson as vice president of business services for its Warehouse Anywhere
subsidiary. … Ceva Logistics has appointed Renee
Toh global head of ocean procurement and
trade-lane management. … Transportation
service provider Arrive Logistics has
announced two key additions to its team:
Richard Shields, chief financial officer, and
Michael Senftleber, executive vice president
of product.
MERRITT
