National Forklift Driving Competition

Mon, 2 Sep 2002

National Forklift Driving Competition

Some of New Zealand's top forklift drivers will be competing to be the king or queen of forklift driving in the Wellington region tomorrow, as part of a National Forklift Driving Competition.

The Wellington event is the fifth regional competition. Regional finals in Hamilton, Palmerston North and Hastings are still to come, with the grand final being held in Auckland in November.

"There's been a substantial increase in the number of entrants this year and, in Wellington, there are four woman drivers, which is great to see" said Chief Judge, Maurice Flood from the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH).

"In the early nineties, industry saw there was a problem with forklift safety and took the initiative to set up the competition, in partnership with OSH, as one of the measures to address the problem.

"The forklift competition is an excellent example of industry working in partnership with OSH."

The competition, which is sponsored by Nissan Forklifts, OSH and Mainfreight raises awareness of forklift safety and training and at the same time allows forklift drivers to demonstrate their skills and focus their attention on safety.

The entrants are competing for more than $7,500 in cash and prizes.

All competitors are entered into the competition on a company basis, and a total of eight regional contests will have been held throughout the country over five months.

Wellington Regional Finals 3-4 September Palmerston North Regional Finals 17-18 September Hastings Regional Finals 8-9 October Hamilton Regional Finals 22-23 October

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