1. Health and Safety failures cost Britain up to £18 billion each year
   
2. 400 people every year are still killed in accidents caused by work activities
   
3. Around 25 million working days are lost every year as a result of work related accidents and ill health
   
4. Around 2 million people - 5% of the population - suffer from ill health caused by work
   
5. Over a million workers get injured every year
   
6. Around half a million people suffer from stress caused by their work
   
7. The most common forms of work related accidents are back problems which causes 10 million working days to be lost each year
   
8. In 1998/99 there were almost 29,000 major injuries to workers
   
9. In the same period another 131,000 workers had to take more than 3 days off work as a result of a work related injury
   
10. More than 24,000 members of the public were injured as a result of a work activity
    
11. Every year around 3000 people die as a result of exposure to asbestos
    
12. Falls from a height are the most common cause of death to employees
    
13. Workers in small manufacturing firms are more than twice as likely to be killed than workers in larger firms in the same sector
    
14. Self employed people are twice as likely to be killed at work as employees
    
15. Workplaces with safety representatives have half the accident rate of workplaces of workplaces who don't have such representatives
    
16. The fatal injury rate for employees in Great Britain is a quarter of what is was in 1971
    
17. Great Britain has a lower rate of deaths to workers than America or any other European country
    
18. The rate of deaths per 100,000 workers is 3.7% in Germany, 4.3% in France and 1.7% in Great Britain
    
19. The cost of work related accidents and ill health to employers is £140 - £300 for each worker employed
    
20. The cost of work related accidents and illnesses is estimated at between £3.5 billion and £7.3 billion a year
    
21. Over £180 million could be saved in work related accidents in the construction industry alone
    
22. Around 1 in 5 workers have been physically attacked or threatened by a member of the public
    
23. Some insurers offer discounts of up to 20% if employers can demonstrate good health and safety arrangements
    
24. Over 25,000 people are forced to give up work every year as a result of work related accidents and ill health

The following represent many of the questions we are frequently asked both by Employers and Employees in relation to materials handling training.

• How often do I have to take a re-test for my fork lift licence? More >>

• What is a fork lift licence anyway? More >>

• What is the small white card that I was given used for? More >>

• I have lost my licence, can you supply another? More >>

• I passed my test on a small truck but now I drive a larger one. Do I have to take another test? More >>

• Does a licence for a counterbalanced truck allow me to drive a reach truck? More >>

• Can I take my licence to another company to get a job? More >>

• Can I use my truck on the public highway? More >>

• Is it compulsory to wear a seat belt when I am driving my truck? More >>

• I went on a one day training course to get my certificate/licence. Is this OK? More >>

• How long does it take to train a person who has never sat on a truck before? More >>

• I have lots of experience but no licence. How long will my course be? More >>

• How long is a course for re-tests? More >>

• Does it help if I can already drive a car? More >>

• Do I have any responsibilities as an operator under current health and safety legislation? More >>

• What responsibilities in law does my employer have for my safety? More >>

• I have been driving trucks for a long time without an accident. Why should I be trained? More >>

• My instructor was from a place called ITTSAR. I thought the RTITB was the governing body? More >>

• What is an accrediting body anyway? More >>

• I had a near miss when I was driving my truck but no-one was injured. Do I have to report it? More >>

• I am an in house instructor working for a company. Can I go and train fork lift operators at another company? More >>

• Does an in house instructor need a refresher course? More >>

• I have heard that the fork lift test uses a "penalty point" system. How does this work? More >>

• Whose responsibility is it to check the truck over and when should this be done? More >>

• Will I have to take a written test as well as a practical one? More >>

• The test course my colleagues used recently looked a bit different to mine. Why is this? More >>

• I have to do other things apart from stacking in racking. Do I need any further training in order to do this? More >>

• I drive a 3 wheel truck and I have been told that 4 wheel trucks are more stable. Is this true? More >>

• How common are fork lift accidents? How many are there in a year? More >>

• What are the most common reasons for fork truck accidents? More >>

• Do I need a medical before I operate a fork lift truck? More >>