Forkliftaction.com's Safety First column this week looks at a vexing issue in Australia (and, presumably other federal constitutions) - the lack of common standards because of differing state requirements. If single countries can't harmonise safety standards and training requirements within its own borders, it doesn't bode well for global harmonisation. And as national barriers come down with growing international trade, these regional peculiarities will end up costing all of us. It must be an absolute nightmare for multinationals and the time has really come to start working towards common standards and processes. And perhaps we need to start small, looking at individual countries which need to get their house in order first.