TMHE's 4,500 service engineers are receiving safety training via the company's Service Technician Education Program.

Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE) will release a mobile game for forklift drivers to boost driver awareness of safety issues.

TMHE spokeswoman Akiko Elmwall says "Forklift Challenge", a "fun" mobile game that will soon be available for free download, was first presented at CeMAT in Germany this year. It was used to demonstrate the benefits of Toyota's safety technology to customers.

To celebrate the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) TMHE is also reviewing the safety actions taken in its network.

TMHE, an official campaign partner of the EU-OSHA "Healthy Workplaces" campaign, has used the past year to review and ramp up its safety activities. The company says it wants to share its best practices on safety with its employees and the materials handling industry.

"When it comes to safety, prevention is always better than cure," says TMHE president Håkan Dahllöf. "The health and safety of our employees and those who use our products is central to our commitment to being a reliable business partner and a responsible member of society."

The company has conducted a full year of local safety awareness campaigns. Each of its three production centres in Sweden, France and Italy has a "Safety Dojo" (Dojo is Japanese for a formal training school), where over 2,250 factory workers receive detailed safety training.

Meanwhile, TMHE's 4,500 service engineers are receiving safety training via the company's Service Technician Education Program (STEP). The training organisation in TMHE's Service Market department is now updating the program to include key recommendations for safe maintenance by EU-OSHA. TMHE makes about 3.5 million service visits annually.

Local Toyota material handling companies held activities to promote safe maintenance among key stakeholders. In France, distributor CFM organised a "Safety Day" to share best practices on safety with its employees, customers and industry members.

The European Week for Safety and Health at Work ran from 24-28 October and focused on safe maintenance. The week is part of the "Healthy Workplaces" Europe-wide campaign for 2010-2011 by the EU-OSHA, which aims to promote safe and healthy workplaces by encouraging an integrated and structured approach to maintenance.

For more information about TMHE's partnership with EU-OSHA, please visit http://www.toyota-forklifts.eu/en/company/osha/.