Toyota Material Handling UK launches 'Taking Care with Toyota', a campaign
featuring a number of initiatives and events for customers and prospects, as
well as their own team which are designed to help reduce injury and
accidents in the workplace.
Toyota Material Handling has always taken the lead on safety and offered a
range of products and activities to help promote best practice in the
industry; this campaign aims to take it further.
Recent research has indicated that safety remains a major influence in
product purchasing so throughout 2012 Toyota Material Handling UK will be
raising awareness of key health and safety topics.
Statistics by the HSE show that on average, 60 people are killed every year
in workplace transport accidents and a further 2000 will suffer serious
injuries. Forklift trucks are involved in nearly a quarter of these
incidents.
Tony Wallis, Operations Director commented: "Toyota has always positioned
itself as a provider of safe products and services, but we believe promoting
safety in the workplace goes beyond providing our customers with the safest
trucks, it also requires that we demonstrate to companies the benefits of
training their people and putting processes in place to create a culture of
safety".
He added: "In the challenging economic climate, it has become more important
for companies to focus on safety, not only to protect their workers, but
also to reduce costs relating to injury and damage. As a leader in the
industry, we are committed to giving people as much support as we can to
work in a safe manner."
A recent industrial trucks survey by Redshift Research stated health and
safety as one of the top 6 critical factors companies consider when
acquiring a new truck, demonstrating the importance of safety for material
handling equipment users.
Throughout the year members of the Toyota team will be attending Health and
Safety events in North, South and Midlands, performing demonstrations of
equipment which help reduce strain and distributing resources to aid best
practice, including the Toyota Manual Handling Guide.
Further resources promoting health and safety in the workplace are also
being produced to provide tips for forklift safety, manual handling and the
correct operation of equipment. All resources will be available on request
via the Toyota website or be available at regional health and safety shows.
Internally Toyota is focusing on providing its team members with information
about healthier living and safety in the workplace and having dedicated
areas in the depots focused on safety. Toyota has started this process by
creating a Safety Dojo at one of its main depots in Leicester. The Safety
Dojo is a training area where visitors and employees can learn safety
awareness and practices with a hands-on approach.
In addition to the UK Year of Safety, Toyota Material Handling has extended
its partnership with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
(EU-OSHA) as an official partner for the Healthy Workplaces campaign for the
second year. It joined forces with EU-OSHA in 2011 to promote the importance
of maintenance and safe maintenance practices across Europe.