 The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. |
Forklift manufacturers Linde Materials Handling, Crown Equipment and Toyota Material Handling, and Genie telehandler distributor Skyreach exhibited at the inaugural Queensland Safety Show last week.
The 175 exhibitors ranged from companies offering safety signage, safe work attire, ear plugs, first aid, finance and insurance, and rack protection to anti-slip solutions.
Spill Station Australia was awarded "best use of exhibition material" by show organisers. Besides a neatly laid-out stand, Spill Station's yellow, oversized showbag was popular with visitors.
Nathan Cartwright, Spill Station's business development manager, said he initially thought the showbag was too big but its design attracted visitors looking for a big bag to carry smaller showbags.
In 1983, the Australian Defence Force approached Cartwright's father, Bruce Cartwright, for a solution to OH&S issues associated with oil and chemical spills. Bruce Cartwright then designed the world's first spill response kit inserted in a wheelie bin.
David Punter, from Global Safe Technologies, Brisbane, Queensland, was at the show to exhibit anti-slip products.
He said several big corporations had shown interest in his products because their forklifts were "slipping on wet floors". "The response has been really good. We have a fair bit to do next month."
Mark Althaus, director of Colby Storage Solutions, said there had been much visitor interest in his protect-a-rack system.
"Safety is a product these days that should be embraced by every company," he said. "We found it surprisingly busy every day ... the quality of visitors was exceptionally good."
Julie Leeds, founder of Nemesis Associates, said the show had been "quality not quantity" for her company.
"Compared to other shows, I've heard there's been 20,000 visitors. Here we only had 3,000 to 4,000 going through," she said.
The Brisbane-based, family-run company offers conflict resolution services and anti-terrorism awareness training for workplaces.
Todd Brennan, from Forkpro Australia, a forklift safety and productivity consultancy, said he would have preferred to see more visitors.
"The numbers are not that fantastic but some of the people who have passed have been valuable contacts. It's been worth it and we will do it again."
Linde Materials Handling's Queensland sales manager James Morris was pleased with the turnout at his stand.
"There were exceptionally large inquiries; lots of fleet inquiries," he said.
"People see commonality in the operating features of our truck and they are happy with this safety aspect." Linde launched its R14X model reach truck for the Australian market at the show.
The Linde stand was a few metres from BOC Australia. BOC offered a range of safety products that included clothing, helmets, gloves and gas detectors. Morris would not comment on Linde AG's plans for the forklift segment (
Forkliftaction.com News #259).
According to show organiser, Australian Exhibitions & Conferences Pty Ltd, about 4,451 people attended the show at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from June 21 to June 23.