The UK Material Handling Association (UKMHA) has established a new MHE Incident Reporting Tool which is open to everyone who works with forklifts and materials handling equipment.

The move is being strongly supported by UKMHA’s daughter company, the UK’s accrediting body for Thorough Examinations, the CFTS, which says the confidential platform offers a way for individuals and businesses to report incidents “without feeling as though they are whistleblowing”.

“The lack of reliable national data on incidents and accidents involving material handling equipment has hampered meaningful improvements to workplace safety,” the CFTS states.

“The new Incident Reporting Portal aims to collect information about incidents so as to identify causes and contributory factors, thus enabling effective targeted safeguarding measures.”

UKMHA CEO Rob Fisher explains the lack of data around MHE incidents in the workplace makes it “very hard to know the true nature of accidents”.

CFTS director David Goss continues: “The new Incident Reporting Portal will help us to get a better understanding of the causes of accidents and then we can target our safety messaging and campaigns”. 

“For example, if we find that a certain mechanical fault is a repeat offender, we can stress the importance of checking that area to our accredited examiners,” Goss continues.

“It will also help us to ensure that our training course content aligns with the portal analysis so that we can continue to ensure the highest standard of Thorough Examination is being delivered by our examiners.”

You can find access to the MHE Incident Reporting Tool here.