Discussion:
Forklift deaths in perspective

I'm always fascinated when people talk about the concerning number of forklift-related deaths. Considering the millions of forklifts in action - some of them 24/7 - I believe this is one of the safest industries around. The latest Forkliftaction special report notes that in 2021, forklift accidents caused 70 work-related deaths across the US. To put this into perspective, there were 5,190 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2021.
Forklift deaths pale into insignificance compared to the 1,103 road-related industrial deaths that year.
Even more surprising - 850 workers died in accidents categorised as "fall, slip, trip". In other words, you're 11 times more likely to lose your life walking around the workplace than driving a forklift.
And that old favourite death benchmark: 11 people died in the US that year after being struck by lightening!!
  • Posted 29 Sep 2023 11:23
  • Modified 3 Oct 2023 13:21 by poster
  • By Allan_Leibowitz
  • joined 29 Sep'23 - 1 message
  • Queensland, Australia

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edition #1257 - 20 November 2025
In this week’s Forkliftaction News , Toyota Industries Corporation confirms it has settled a class-action lawsuit in the US which centred around its 2023 emissions cheating scandal. Find out how much the class-action cost it... Continue reading
Fact of the week
In 1898, author Morgan Robertson wrote a novel called 'Futility', which described an "unsinkable" ship named the Titan that sank after hitting an iceberg. Fourteen years later, the Titanic sank in a strikingly similar fashion.