Engineer halts potentially fatal fork lift truck

Just weeks later, the truck's poor state of repair, which rendered the truck unsafe and unlawful, was discovered during a routine service carried out by an experienced fork lift truck engineer who, fortunately for the customer, happened to be qualified as a competent person for the 'Thorough Examination' of fork lift trucks under a scheme developed by the industry's own experts. The watchful engineer identified visible damage to the truck's overhead guard (pictured) which could have compromised protection against falling objects such as laden pallets displaced at height. As a result of further investigation he also identified hitherto unnoticed cracks to both the chassis and the carriage. He also identified the cause of the damage to the overhead guard: apparently it was being used as an anchor point for towing a 7.5 tonne lorry! "For the stress to have caused this damage to the guard it is quite likely that other structural damage will have been done to the fork lift truck, some of which may put the operator at even greater risk," said Chas Day, technical manager of CFTS, which administers the scheme to which the engineer is accredited. CFTS was created by the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) and the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA) in co-operation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to create a rigorous and comprehensive inspection procedure.