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I'm not sure that my family will ever forgive me for starting work in a personal injury solicitor's office. I now regularly amaze them with obscure details of road safety barrier regulations, the outcomes of train crash investigation hearings and asbestos death statistics. I also seem to have developed a knack for uttering the gory details of car accident reports at the most inappropriate times and last night I took the biscuit (according to my partner) when, whilst enjoying a TV drama about a disparate group of people who had survived a fatal flu virus epidemic, I made comment on a scene in a food distribution warehouse, as an actor careered around the isles of pallets piled high in a forklift truck.
All I could say was, "The AITT would have something to say about that. That's a workplace accident just waiting to happen."
For those who are interested, the AITT is the Association of Industrial Truck Trainers and the actor was driving a warehouse reach truck. He wasn't wearing a safety belt, his lack of forklift truck driver training was quite apparent, the lights on the truck were faulty and don't even get me started on the consumption of alcohol coupled with industrial machinery.
Reach forklift trucks are battery operated vehicles used only on smooth surfaced floors. They have great manoeuvrability which suits the narrow aisles of most warehouse situations. The truck, has a mast which enables the forks to rise higher than the cab of the truck giving access to high pallets and stacked shelving units. The forks "reach" out from the mast and lift the pallet unit, bringing it back to the mast to be lowered to the wheelbase unit.
During the programme, the actor's character, who had obviously not gained his AITT D1 training certificate, attempted to unload a large crate of wine from the top of the shelving system in the warehouse. He was obviously flustered and in his agitated state, perhaps brought about by his thoughts of contravening health and safety regulations regarding safe use of vehicles in the warehousing and haulage industries, he managed to mishandle a packing unit which inevitably knocked into a tall stack of pallets that subsequently toppled over. As the hapless driver panicked and leapt from the cab (not having to pause and undo his safety belt because he had neglected to wear one in the first place, tut, tut, tut), down came a huge unit of red wine which landed square on his leg causing a massive compound fracture. Cue cutaway long shot to scene of accident and a blood curdling cry enhanced to a spine tingling crescendo with the copious use of echo.
If only he had worn his lap belt, he would have been held inside the cab, which, with its caged roof would have protected him from the impact of much of the falling debris. If he had remained calm and assessed the ensuing situation (items that his forklift driver training would have covered) he would have understood that exiting the vehicle was a potentially lethal move. He would have known to brace himself inside the cab, in case the truck overturned and by these means he would have been protected by the roll cage and not at risk of crushing injury. Silly man.
It was a good scene, and perhaps one that effectively illustrates the benefits of risk assessment in the workplace and adequate training for all operators of industrial vehicles and equipment. But for my partner, blithely watching a new drama depicting a situation of mass social change as a means of exploring humanity in all its guises, my quips about personal injury and the HSE throwing the book at this guy for his part in a catastrophic forklift truck accident, did not go down well at all.
