Awards nod for FLTA Safety Week mastermind David McGuire of John Knowles Company

Fork Lift Safety success yields Hub Awards innovation nomination


The strategist behind the Fork Lift Truck Association's successful National Fork Lift Safety Week has been nominated for a prestigious innovation award.


David McGuire, from industrial marketing agency the John Knowles Company, has been recognised by business network The Hub for his creative approach to press and online media.

Notably, David's achievements include the innovative combination of social media websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter with both regional and industry-based news to promote the FLTA's lifesaving safety campaign - with immediate results.


In September, National Fork Lift Safety Week coverage prompted literally thousands of companies to contact the Association for safety packs, download resources or view training videos online; quadrupling traffic at its website www.fork-truck.org.uk.


Although official statistics are not yet known, news reports about serious lift truck accidents during September were remarkably few: an unusual occurrence in what is typically the materials handling industry's deadliest month.


FLTA chief executive David Ellison is encouraged: "The interest in this year's Safety Week far exceeds anything we have achieved before, and I firmly believe that we will have made a genuine difference to the number of fork lift truck related accidents across the country.


"A good deal of the credit must go to David McGuire and his colleagues at the John Knowles Company, for their innovative ideas and sheer hard work. This nomination is richly deserved."


The Award will be presented after a glamorous dinner at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall.


David McGuire says: "Although it's nominally an individual Award, I'm excited for our whole team. I'm privileged to work with some extremely talented, dedicated people, and the work that's being recognised was very much a joint effort.


"Awards are great, but being told your work may actually have saved someone's life - that's a real buzz. So in a way I feel like we've been rewarded already."