Forticrete, part of CRH Group, has won an award at the Mineral Products Association (MPA) Health & Safety Conference and Awards 2013.

Victorious in the LGV and all company vehicles: Driver Safety/Public Safety category, the award recognises the work undertaken to improve safety levels on the company’s forklift truck fleet, in particular the installation of an automatic speed reduction system to protect drivers and pedestrians.

Working alongside sister company Ibstock Brick, Forticrete partnered with its forklift truck supplier base to drive the development of an automatic speed reduction system which was installed on the fleet used within its factories.

The award recognises the creation of this new system, which slows vehicles automatically to a crawl speed of 1kph when an object or person is detected at 1m or less behind the vehicle. It has now been adopted on the company’s entire fleet of forklift trucks and is making a significant contribution to the safety-first operating philosophy in place at all CRH Group sites.

Wayne Sheppard, managing director at CRH Group, said: “We are delighted that the efforts of both Forticrete and Ibstock, to ensure safety in our busy operating sites, have been recognised through this award. The safety of personnel is of paramount importance to us, and the development of the new forklift truck speed reduction system with the help of our supplier Linde Material Handling has proven to be an innovative solution that can only support safety standards going forward.

“This is only the first step though – we hope that other forklift manufacturers will work together to ensure this technology is readily available, affordable and adopted across all forklift fleets to help maximise safety across the manufacturing industry.”