inbound
As the special National Forklift Safety Day coverage in this month’s edition
attests, forklift safety is a critical issue that affects every facility where industrial trucks are used. And although that topic will be front and center in
Washington, D.C., and around the country on June 14, the safe operation of
forklifts should be top of mind every day. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) and the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) agree,
which is why they announced earlier this year that they would extend their
12-year safety-focused alliance for another five years.
The partnership aims to raise awareness about forklift safety and to develop
resources and training to help reduce injuries and fatalities among workers
who use powered industrial trucks. During the life of the five-year agreement,
the alliance will focus on reducing tipover and pedestrian hazards. It will also
support OSHA campaigns to prevent falls and heat illness, implement projects
that protect temporary workers, and encourage a culture of safety, particularly
for small businesses and workers with limited English skills, OSHA said.
“Many workers suffer serious injuries or die from being crushed, being struck
by, or falling from forklifts,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, in announcing the agreement. “Our
continued alliance with ITA will help us promote awareness of the dangers of
this equipment and provide valuable information and training to protect the
safety of workers.”
More information about the OSHA-ITA alliance can be found at www.osha.
gov/dcsp/alliances/ita/ ita.html.
Together again: OSHA and ITA
The American Logistics Aid
Network (ALAN) has come to
the rescue of people in need
around the globe since its
founding in 2005 in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, arranging
supply chain support to disaster relief agencies responding
to events like the earthquake
in Haiti, Ebola outbreak in
West Africa, and earthquakes
in Nepal.
In April, the group gained
new backing for its philanthropic mission when the
International Warehouse
Logistics Association (IWLA)
pledged $75,000 to support
ALAN’s efforts to help get
planes, distribution experts,
and relief supplies to ravaged
regions.
“Our industry is uniquely
equipped to help with disaster
recovery,” IWLA President and
CEO Steve DeHaan said in a
release. “We have the space, the
material handling equipment,
and the transportation assets
to get supplies where they are
needed most. We need to be
the lifeline that organizations
like ALAN rely on, because we
never know when or where the
need will be.”
In addition to making a
donation of $25,000 per year
through 2018, IWLA is encour-
aging its members to join the
effort. The group will match
all donations made to ALAN
by July 1, 2016, up to a total of
$25,000.
ALAN lands
$75,000 gift from
warehouse group
Aspiring merchant marine sailors from the
Maine Maritime Academy set sail each year
on the school’s 500-foot training vessel to
log ocean experience needed to qualify for
their U.S. Coast Guard licenses. Traveling
alongside the 200 mariners this January was a first-time delegation of 15
students from the Castine, Maine-based university’s Loeb-Sullivan School of
International Business and Logistics (IBL).
Although the business students will not need seagoing licenses to pursue
their future careers, the two-week training cruise from Maine to St. Croix in
the U.S. Virgin Islands was a chance to study logistics in the real world as they
followed shipping containers on their journey from dock to ship to shore.
Among other activities, the students spent time standing deck watches and
working shifts in the bridge, the engine room, and the ship engineer’s library
along with assisting with parts and supply inventory tasks.
The voluntary trip was “an opportunity for non-license students to learn
what deck and engineering students go through” when they go to sea and a
chance to learn about logistics on board, IBL Dean Donald Maier told The
Ellsworth American.
The trip was also a first for Maier, who told the newspaper he had spent a
career moving shipping containers around the world but had never had the
opportunity to accompany one on its journey.
Sea cruise
