By Daphne Haneman

Todd Brennan has dedicated more than half his life to the Australian forklift industry.

Brennan lives and works in Helensburgh, a small town halfway between Sydney and Wollongong. He is a gentle, unassuming man, but his ambition is far from unassuming.

In the last few years, Brennan has been quietly activating important changes in forklift safety.

His wish is to see middle management take more responsibility for safety because "too many people are killing themselves on forklifts".

After successfully completing an apprenticeship as an automotive engineer in 1980, Brennan's first job was at Toyota Industrial Equipment's head office in Taren Point, Sydney. For the next 17 years, he worked his way up the ranks, completing a business management course and becoming Toyota's second-in-charge as operations manager.

Brennan became chairman of the Australian Industrial Truck Engineering Committee.

While at Toyota, he worked in forklift design and became interested in many health, safety and compliance issues in Australia and overseas.

But it wasn't all forklifts for Brennan. In 1990 his passion for motorcycle racing saw him win an Australian motorcycle dirt track championship in Gunnedah, NSW. In 1993 he established a motorcycle race team and, while he doesn't race today, he "still has a ride".

In 2002 he left Toyota, wanting to "fill the forklift safety gap", and founded his own company, Forkpro Australia.

Forkpro has four permanent staff and several contractors who offer forklift training courses for individuals and businesses.

Brennan believes Forkpro is different as it focuses on forklift stability.

"Understanding stability - the centre of gravity on the forklift - is core in safety training for forklift operators."

He said trainees were frequently surprised to learn forklifts were less safe when unloaded.

"Operators use forklifts more aggressively when they are unloaded. And they don't wear seatbelts. With a high centre of gravity, unloaded forklifts can tip over at 3km or 4km per hour."

Forkpro's forklift training courses include battery changing, fuel safety, pedestrian management, competency, refresher courses and licensing. The team performs site assessments, conducts safety research, produces compliance reports, coordinates and delivers forklift safety seminars, and produces forklift safety videos and publications.

Brennan and his team have worked on corporate projects and assisted tertiary institutions, including the Monash University Accident Research Centre's forklift safety project.

Brennan believes responsibility for safety lies beyond drivers.

"In many workplaces, middle and line managers need to take a much more active view on plant equipment safety. Seat belts are a good example. If operators will not wear them, it is up to supervisors to ensure they do and explain the reasons why they are important," he said.

"Many forklift operators have a licence but don't know the equipment very well. Some got their licence 20 years ago and were probably not trained very well," he told Forkliftaction.com News at the Sydney Safety Show.

However, Brennan believes things have improved.

"For a long time the forklift industry and regulators were not working co-operatively to achieve higher levels of forklift safety. In many cases they were critical of each other. In recent years this has changed somewhat and dialogue between the two has been more open. There is still some disagreement but there are key people who have really worked to forge a common direction. This has been an inspiration to me," he said.

Brennan is a NSW and ACT WorkCover accredited certificate assessor who holds a Certificate IV in workplace training. He is an active member of forklift-related Australian Standards committees. Forkpro Australia is a member of the Australian Industrial Truck Association.

Brennan's vision is to expand Forkpro and develop a national training network via a system of providers. AusForkPro, in Melbourne, Victoria, is already a reality and Queensland will be the next base.

Brennan lives with "five females" in Helensburgh, his wife, three children and a bird.