It is on again. Brisbane in November is where it will all happen. The sponsors are committed and the many supporters of the event, companies and individual fork operators, are now preparing. The format of the event has changed this year. The novelty event will keep everyone amused.
Forklift operation is now classed by the government as High Risk Work. As part of this push, there are more compliance checks by inspectors. The current assessment tools to obtain a forklift are very different to the past and include WHS legislation, calculations and wide and varied forklift theory and practical operation. Gone are the ‘old days’ where a wink and a nod got a licence.
The Forklift Championship is focused on safety and safe operation in a small area, where eye and hand skill coordination are tested to the max. Every contestant starts with a score of zero and points are added when an error is made. Not wearing a seat belt will be a penalty of 3 points to the competition contestant, as an example. Could your workers benefit from participating and testing their skills?
Every year, the number of female forklift contestants grows. The judges have been very impressed with the quality of driving with only a few points’ variation between the top male and female. The number of female of warehouse managers has increased significantly, in what was male dominated in the past.
