The UK Material Handling association (UKMHA) held this year’s National Forklift Safety Day (NFSD) on 9th June 2026. This year’s campaign highlights the essential contribution of skilled engineers who ensure that the forklift equipment is maintained to the highest standard supporting safe, reliable and compliant operation throughout its working life.
The drive behind this year’s theme is derived from workplace statistics. Between 2019 and 2025, the UK forklift suppliers lost in excess of 1000 working days per year to workplace injuries. About 85% of the incidents involved forklift engineers working at customers premises with 20% of the injuries resulting in time off work. If the forklift engineers are working off site, both the forklift suppliers and their clients are responsible for their safety.
The breakdown of the types of forklift engineer workplace incidents is:
- 21% – Manual Handling
- 22% – Struck or crushed by moving objects including forklift trucks
- 10% – Strike against objects/equipment
- 18% – Slips and trips
- 6% – contact with sharp objects and components
- 23% – Others
About 40% of material handling injuries are due to manual handling and slips and trips. These are likely to cause soft tissue injuries in 86% of cases of material handling and 66% of slips and trips incidents. You may think slips and trips would cause minor injuries but 20% of them result in fracture or dislocation.
About 18% of the time lost through injuries is due to mounting and dismounting the forklift truck. This is entirely preventable. Always look down when mounting and dismounting a forklift truck. It is also very important to always maintain three points of contact.
About 30% of all incidents occur when the forklift engineer is not actually working on the equipment. This is often due to routine activities carried out without due care and attention.
UKMHA has produced five short toolbox talks as part of the National Forklift Safety Day. These are:
- Basic Techniques Part I
- Basic Techniques Part II
- Mounting and Dismounting Forklift Trucks
- LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) Cylinder Handling – for LPG forklift Trucks
- Handling Jacks
David Goss, Technical Director at the UK Material Handling Association, said: “National Forklift Safety Day plays a really important role in UKMHA’s vision to reduce the number of incidents and accidents involving forklift engineers by improving working practices in common activities. This goal will be achieved through a combination of workplace guidance and targeted training for engineers.”
Wallace School of Transport including Forklift Training in London is a fully accredited RTITB company with over 60 years’ experience. You can be trained either at your own work site or at Wallace Centre in Park Royal. If you have any questions, call Wallace Forklift Training on 020 8453 3440, choose option 3 or click here to email us.