Leaving Keys in the Ignition Can Cost Lives

Leaving Keys in the Ignition Can Cost Lives!

A local company was fined £20000 with £15000 costs after a worker was killed by an unauthorised person driving a fork lift truck – they made the mistake of leaving keys in the ignition. Please do not risk it, people’s lives could be in jeopardy.

You might not be aware but it is actually illegal to leave the keys in an unattended Forklift. This measure is to prevent unauthorised use of the Forklift. Many companies get fined, and face expensive insurance problems because an unauthorised driver (casual staff, truck drivers, contractors etc) has used their Forklift and had an accident.

If an unauthorised person has access to your Forklift, they won’t be covered under your insurance and you faced being fined. There is usually a reason why people leave the keys in the ignition, it may be that other keys have previously gone missing or people have left them at home but nonetheless it is the law. Luckily there are some cost effective and practical solutions for overcoming the problem.

All forklifts and plant equipment can be fitted with low cost Driver Identification systems which prevent unauthorised usage. These can be anything from a simple key fob or pin code unit to a more sophisticated ‘credit card’ and can be programmed in a number of ways – to prevent non authorised operators from using the equipment, to allow individual operators to drive more specialised equipment such as VNA trucks or to track the utilisation of the materials handling equipment. Crash detection monitors can also be included on some of the systems.

Please call Langley on 01773 763546 for more advice on Driver Identification Systems. You can also contact us here.