September 4, 2019

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Forklift Safety

Flexible polyethylene safety barriers aim to restrict forklift-related incidents

Every day, five people are hospitalised with life-changing injuries due to forklift-related incidents. The number of serious injuries involving forklifts have soared by almost a third, seeing 1,300 workers in the UK succumb to injuries. It is no surprise, therefore, that companies are desperately trying to find a solution. McCue’s ‘Ultra’ hopes to do just that.

An HSE investigation following the death of a worker found that measures to separate pedestrians from vehicles were inadequate. In 2017 Christine Workman was struck by a forklift and later passed away despite walking in the designated pedestrian area on the site’s roadway.

Following the incident, HSE Inspector Kay Brookes said, ‘the requirement to ensure adequate separation and segregation between pedestrians and vehicles is paramount.’ McCue hope to resolve this by supporting and fortifying the designs of their previous barriers to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities caused by forklift accidents.

Forklifts and pedestrians: How close is too close?

McCue works across multiple industries providing products that organise, optimise workplaces and hold an artillery of hardware ranging from column guards to bollards.

Its safety barriers are made from flexible polyethylene, a material that is both strong and resilient. The plastic barriers can endure and absorb vehicle impact, reducing costly and time-consuming maintenance and should only be used in locations where high energy collisions pose a potential threat to employees.

The main aim of ‘Ultra’ is to stop the speed, load and angle of impact of forklifts from injuring workers. According to McCue, what was one a ‘potential killing machine’ is now manageable. In the future, the company hopes to eradicate all forklift incidents that cause injury, and sometimes death.

McCue’s ‘Ultra’ range will launch at IMHX on stand 19J90.


IMHX is the largest event of its kind welcoming 16,000 professionals to see and experience the latest logistics and supply chain technology from the industry’s leading names. It takes place from 24 – 27 September 2019 at Birmingham’s NEC.

Click here for more information on IMHX.

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