- Use National Forklift Safety Day to promote operator safety and help build your corporate safety culture.
- Lean into this event with related activities to help underscore the importance of training and safety practices for your operators
- Benefits include reduced risk to operators, materials, and assets, including wooden pallets.
It will soon be upon us. National Forklift Safety Day, slated for June 10, 2025 (register here for in-person or streaming the event), is an annual event hosted by the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). Its primary purpose is to raise awareness about the safe use of forklifts and the importance of operator training.
Still Too Many Injuries
Forklift injuries and incidents continue to be a headache. The National Safety Council reported 67 work-related deaths involving forklifts and related machines in 2023 and 24,960 nonfatal injuries resulted from forklift incidents in the 2021-2022 period. These statistics remind us of the need for comprehensive safety training, effective ongoing supervision and regular equipment maintenance.
While initially focused on operator training and safety awareness, National Forklift Safety Day has expanded to include discussions on technological advancements, regulatory updates, and strategies for reducing workplace incidents involving forklifts.
Speakers at this event include a range of association, industry and safety professionals. They include Brian Feehan, President, industrial Truck Association; Brett Wood, President & CEO, Toyota Material Handling North America; Ron Grisez, Director, Product Safety, Crown Equipment Corporation; Jonathan Fortkamp, PhD, CSP, Senior Director, Health, Safety & Environment, DHL Supply Chain, North America; and Lisa Brooks, CIE, Principal, Nexus HSE.
Tapping into National Forklift Safety Day
Aside from taking time to attend the presentations, one of the most effective ways to leverage the event is by organizing a dedicated forklift safety week at your facility sometime in June. Here are some activities to consider:
Daily toolbox talks
Focus on various aspects of forklift safety, including pedestrian awareness, pre-use inspections, and load handling techniques. One approach is to celebrate with formal recognition or safety awards on the day itself, if the timing works. These bite-sized sessions encourage continuous learning and give staff tangible takeaways they can apply immediately. Show relevant instructional videos, such as this one we produced on safe pallet handling for operators:
Hands-on demos
Facilities can also host hands-on demonstration sessions tied to NFSD. Consider inviting vendors on-site to demonstrate proper usage of lift truck safety technologies. A fresh voice sometimes can make all the difference. Another inexpensive idea is to host an expert from your insurance carrier to speak on safe operation. In some facilities, the plant maintenance manager presents brief sessions on common equipment damage and its prevention.
Safety system audit with an emphasis on forklift operation
Managers might also use the occasion to audit safety signage, update worn decals, and review traffic flow within the warehouse or yard. NFSD can be the catalyst for broader improvements, such as implementing high-visibility pedestrian lanes, adding mirrors at blind intersections, or upgrading aging forklifts with safety-enhancing retrofits. Even small enhancements, such as better lighting in loading areas, can significantly reduce risk. Some facilities will use NFSD to review forklift incident records and raise operator awareness.
Share stories that matter
Finally, don’t overlook storytelling. Sharing real-world forklift accident case studies (internal or industry-wide) during NFSD activities can make the importance of safety personal and visceral. A brief video or testimonial from someone affected by an incident adds a human face to safety messaging. This approach has been used effectively in companies like Nestlé and Amazon to make safety resonate beyond checklists and compliance.
Benefits of Promoting NFSD and Operator Safety
The number of forklift-related fatalities and incidents continues to be a strong motivator for reinforcing your safety program through promotions such as NFSD. And beyond preventing human tragedy, consider the other cost impacts, such as damage to materials and assets.
When experienced field professionals enter your warehouse or plant, they can quickly see signs of operational issues before they even inspect the safety logs. Scrapes and paint transfer from other equipment, bent storage racks or trash bins, and even damaged pallets all serve as red flags that corners are being cut.
Take your pallets, for example. Practices that damage pallets are often associated with practices that put personnel equally in harm’s way:
- When operators enter at speed, rather than slowly, or if they enter with pallet forks at an angle, they risk not only damage to the edge of the pallet, but also risk to upper stacked loads tipping onto nearby pedestrians or operators. Slow down and remember to maintain a safety zone.
- When operators slide palletized loads or stacks of pallets along the floor, they not only promote damage to the bottom pallet deck boards, but they may be sliding the load blindly, risking collision with other machinery or workers.
- When operators do not insert pallet jacks correctly, the raising mechanism can pry off the adjoining bottom deck board. The result can be more problematic pallet handling and pallet debris on the floor, which too often result in slip and trip injuries or puncture wounds.
Why not mark National Forklift Safety Day on your safety calendar as an annual event to celebrate? Reinforce safety practices, raise awareness, and celebrate operator professionalism in your facility. And if you are having ongoing issues with pallet damage, why not reach out to PalletOne? Pallet safety and plant safety go hand-in-hand.
