Organisers in two north-west states are preparing for upcoming forklift rodeo competitions.
The Washington state governor's industrial safety and health conference includes the 2012 forklift
rodeo events on September 26 at the convention centre in Spokane.
Business sponsors for the Washington event include a Seattle operation of Boeing Co; Ives Training & Compliance Group Inc of Blaine; Columbia Crest Winery of Paterson; the Seattle site of materials handling dealership Papé Group Inc; materials handling dealership Northwest Forklift Inc of Renton; and the Renton facility of mobile repair firm Equipment Experts Inc.
Two regional competitions occurred with 27 participants in Spokane on July 14 and 19 at the Auburn qualifier on August 11. The top eight participants in each event qualified for the 15th annual finals. Thirteen companies were represented.
Washington sets up different courses each year. The 2012 version includes a section called Spill the Wine. Other categories include a combination of events called The Rack and The Tornado and a separate contest, the Long Shot Pick Up with a basketball.
Five individual awards range from USD500 to USD100, and teams compete for the first place prize of USD300 and second place of USD150.
Meanwhile, the Oregon occupational safety and health division will conduct its Columbia forklift
challenge on March 8 at the Oregon convention centre in Portland.
The challenge will be held as part of a four-day Oregon governor's occupational safety and health conference.
The state agency conducted its first Columbia forklift challenge in 2011 and, for the 2013 iteration, will add a category for stand-up reach forklift operators.
Any employer-certified forklift operator is eligible to compete for the USD500, USD350 and USD200 top individual prizes. The entry fee is USD50 per forklift operator. There is no additional team fee with three individual scores being combined for each team's score.
The division is a unit of the Salem-based Oregon department of consumer and business services and operates under a state-plan agreement with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.