On the afternoon of Sunday 23 January 2022, a lithium-ion battery attached to a cordless impact wrench exploded after it was left on the back seat of a vehicle over the weekend. The explosion ignited other material left on the seat and severely damaged the interior of the vehicle.

The incident occurred in Darwin where the outside temperature at the time was approximately 31°. The cordless impact wrench and battery was manufactured by a reputable company.

More information is available in the safety alert issued by WorkSafe NT, here

Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has welcomed one of its biggest crops of forklift technician apprentices in its 2022 Annual Apprentice Intake, with 15 new inductees brought into the program.

An induction ceremony on April 21 saw the 15 new apprentices attend accompanied by mentors from their respective TMHA branches, where they were welcomed by senior TMHA executives including president CEO Steve Takacs. Mr Takacs also presented the new apprentices with their tools of the trade, marking a significant investment directly to the inductees.

Following the Brisbane floods in 2011 the Australian Forklift and Industrial Truck Association (AFITA) became aware of issues with the sale of flood damaged forklifts (insurance write-offs).

Although these machines were sold for on the basis of being for spare parts only, there were instances of them being repaired and offered for sale as second-hand working forklifts or put into the hire market instead of being dismantled and used as spare parts.

Recent major floods in Queensland and NSW again raise the risk of this happening.