Forklift News - David Hoover: Real people can get lost in statistics

In the materials handling and safety worlds, we can sometimes get caught up in too many statistics. When you watch the news on TV, listen to the radio or read an article, you see so many statistics that you become numbed to them. This became readily apparent to me during the tsunami that claimed the lives of so many people in Asia. You hear that tens of thousands were killed, but it is almost impossible to comprehend the tremendous loss and suffering unless you were there or have a personal connection. You find yourself listening and then forgetting about it and doing something else.

In my forklift safety operators’ class we inform trainees about the national US forklift statistic of around 100 deaths and between 65,000 to 95,000 injuries each year. I have said it so many times that it periodically loses its effect on me, at least until I come in contact with an injured operator or hear a personal story. When I hear intimate details of what a serious forklift accident does to a family, it makes me realise that real people stand behind each and every statistic. People lose income, suffer terrible physical pain, give up activities they once loved, lose the ability to generate income and, in the worst cases, lose a loved one forever.

I recently conversed via email with a woman on the Forkliftaction.com Discussion Forums who had a serious forklift injury to her leg. She was in a lawsuit with the manufacturer and, even though I did not agree 100 per cent with her position in the suit, my heart certainly went out to her for the severity of the injury she received and what she was going through in her personal life. I think it is important to everyone involved in forklift safety to let things get through our thick skins once in a while so we don’t become callous to the real effects of what we are trying to prevent.

David Hoover is president of Forklift Training Systems Inc, a US safety company specialising in site and forklift safety training, training trainers, custom program development and cutting-edge forklift safety products. Contact David Hoover.

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