4 A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO DC VELOCITY
NA TIONAL FORKLIFT
SAFE TY DAY
tute the Alliance of Industrial Truck Organizations, which
pursues globalized standards and collects market data in the
form of its “World Industrial Truck Statistics” reports.
Our members are the backbone of an industry that has
a significant impact on the national economy, contributing
over $25 billion to U.S. gross domestic product annually. For
every worker directly employed by the industrial truck sector, another 2. 5 jobs are supported in the wider economy.
Our industry hires more military veterans— 10 percent of our
total employment—than all other manufacturing groups and
industry at large. We’ve been breaking records for shipments,
with over a quarter of a million units last year, which follows
two previous record years. In short, ITA is a busy association
in a thriving industry.
Q: HOW DOES THE ORGANIZATION’S
WORK BENEFIT THE END USERS OF
LIFT TRUCKS?
A: The association devotes significant
time and resources toward developing
and improving standards that enhance
the products our members sell. One of
the ways that ITA promotes safety is
through our formal alliance with OSHA,
through which, among other things,
we provide forklift safety seminars to
OSHA personnel. We estimate we’ve
reached over 600 OSHA specialists
with the program. And as the driving
force behind OSHA’s adoption of an
effective operator-training regulation
some years ago, we remain committed to the idea that a
better-trained operator is a safer operator.
Q: WHAT WILL BE YOUR PERSONAL PRIORITIES AS ITA’S
NEW CHAIR?
A: We have a robust and mature association that has benefited from years of excellent leadership, so I’d obviously like
to continue that tradition. For the near term, I’d like to see
our group continue to work closely with OSHA on a regulatory
initiative to update OSHA regulations dealing with powered
industrial trucks. Specifically, we want the federal regulation
to reference the latest edition of the national consensus
standard that covers our products. Believe it or not, the
federal regulation currently references the 1969 version of
the standard—we want it to reference the 2016 version
because that represents nearly 50 years of improvement in
the standards that we use to build our forklifts. The work is
well under way, but I’d like to see it over the finish line as
soon as possible.
I also want us to continue developing metrics and reporting
tools that reflect the positive impact we have on the overall
U.S. economy, continue developing standards that promote
safer products, grow our membership, and constantly look
for ways to enhance our members’ opportunities for success.
I’m going to work with ITA’s full-time staff in Washington,
D.C., to continue and build on what has been a very successful association.
Q: THIS YEAR MARKS THE FIFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL
FORKLIFT SAFETY DAY. WHAT HAS THIS EVENT
ACCOMPLISHED TO DATE, AND WILL ITA CONTINUE
THESE EFFORTS IN THE FUTURE?
A: At a recent ITA meeting, we reflected
on the previous four years of National
Forklift Safety Day. Overall, we’re very
pleased with the year-over-year progress of this initiative. Attendance in
D.C. has increased each year, as has
the diversity of our speakers. Member-company events at their local facilities
have continued to develop, with more
and more manufacturers hosting open
houses and other public events to
promote the day. We’ve partnered
with well-known material handling
organizations like MHI, MHEDA, and
DC VELOCITY to promote and support
National Forklift Safety Day, and
we intend to continue learning and
improving on our experience.
Q: WHAT’S THE MAIN MESSAGE ITA WOULD LIKE DC
VELOCITY’S READERS TO TAKE AWAY FROM NATIONAL
FORKLIFT SAFETY DAY?
A: The main message is the importance of forklift operator
and pedestrian safety, emphasizing that different stakeholders working together—manufacturers, dealers, employers
and employees, and federal and state safety officials—will
drive continued declines in the accident rate. We know from
the data that better operator training is critical, so we’ll continue to promote it at every opportunity.
We believe that the OSHA operator-training regulation provides an excellent template for a training and evaluation program, so the most important thing is to increase meaningful
compliance with it, especially by smaller companies and for
the most vulnerable employees, such as younger operators
and temporary workers. Our National Forklift Safety Day program will advance those themes and promote the idea that
safety is a shared goal. ;
