Queensland Industrial Relations Minister, Cameron Dick, has urged employers to ensure they have safe work practices in place for the use of forklifts.
The admonishment from the minister comes after the resolution of several prosecutions over workplace forklift incidents, with fines of up to $40,000 involved.
Another dozen or so incidents, including a recent fatality, are also the subject of investigations by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
According to the Minister Dick, the key to preventing injuries and fatalities is appropriate worker training and risk management.
One of the recent prosecutions resulted from a fatality at a Geebung plumbing products business and another two incidents involved workers suffering serious crush injuries at incidents at Archerfield and near Ipswich.
Minister Dick says even if forklifts are fitted with the appropriate safety devices, traffic management and risk assessment plans still need to be prepared and implemented.
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