Dingley paper manufacturer takes out WorkSafe Award for forklift safety

26 October 2006

Dingley’s Australia Pacific Paper Products was, like many large Victorian manufacturers, trying to manage safety in areas where forklifts and pedestrians were forced to share the same workspace.

Today, they not only have a system that eliminated a dangerous machinery risk, but also have a WorkSafe Award for their achievement.

The company was tonight presented with the Award for Best Solution for a Health and Safety Risk for developing a walkway and automated gate system that separates pedestrians and forklifts.

It does this by directing pedestrians through covered walkways and stops forklifts at gates when pedestrians cross a path used by forklifts.

The process was designed by a committee which discussed ideas before coming up with what they identified as the safest solution to engineer-out the safety risk.

Australia Pacific Paper Products was one of six Awards recipients announced at tonight’s WorkSafe Awards presentation.

WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director, John Merritt, said a common thread linking all award recipients was that they did not work in isolation, but took a collaborative approach to workplace safety.

“This year’s WorkSafe Victoria Awards recipients have one thing in common - an understanding that working together to come up with safety solutions works best.

“Consultation - involving staff - seeking input - working together. These are all phrases associated with the individuals and organisations recognised tonight.

“They have made outstanding contributions, not only to improve the safety of their colleagues, but also the wider community.”

Mr Merritt said the WorkSafe Awards continually uncovered innovative organisations and individuals who developed solutions to specific risks - or who went the extra mile to ensure their workplace was safe for others.

“The genuine commitment we see every year through these awards, gives us a real buzz to know our messages are getting through and being embraced by so many.

“We want every Victorian worker to return home safely to their family and friends everyday.

“By making safety an integral part of what they do, all WorkSafe Awards finalists are winners because they are helping us achieve this important goal by making Victoria a safer place to work.”

A panel of judges representing industry, unions, employer associations and WorkSafe Victoria chose 22 finalists from more than 100 entries.

Media inquiries and picture inquiries: Michael Birt 0411 256 605.