(Back Row - Standing) Michal Obuchowicz, Krystian Michalak, Tom Lavigne, Randy Langwell, LiAnna Gusso, Corey Nelson, James Ralphs, Ian Campbell, Robyn Watson, Stephen Myckatyn, Randy Hiles, Nav Mander (Front Row) Melissa, Ashley, Brittany, Kayla - Rally Girls*.

On Saturday May 5th, 2012 forklift operators from across British Columbia came together to compete at the 15th Annual BC Championship Forklift Rally held at the Cloverdale Agriplex.

The event included:

• Over $3500.00 in prize money
• Competition in four divisions (Reach Truck, Counterbalanced Propane, Counterbalanced Electric & Power Pallet Jack)
• A written test based on WorkSafeBC Regulations
• Almost 75 competitors from over 30 companies
• Forklift Bowling, Basketball & Soccer
• Competitors from across the Lower Mainland and as far away as the Okanagan and Washington State.

Side Attractions included:

• Free Donuts, Muffins & Coffee for Breakfast (courtesy of Saginaw Bakery, Tim Horton’s & Johnston Equipment)
• Smokies & Pop for lunch (courtesy of Freybe Gourmet Foods & Johnston Equipment)
• Bouncy Castle for the Kids (courtesy of Adecco Employment)
• Rally Girls (provided by L2 Models)

Rally Champions

At the end of the day 12 contestants shared in $3600.00 in prize money with $500 being awarded to all first place finishers and $300 and $100 being awarded to second and third place winners.

First Place

• Reach Truck – Nav Mander (EV Logistics – Ambient)
• Counterbalanced Electric – Randy Hiles (EV Logistics – Ambient)
• Counterbalanced Propane – Corey Nelson (Americold)
• Power Pallet Jack – Robyn Watson (Best Buy)

Second Place

• Reach Truck – James Ralphs (London Drugs)
• Counterbalanced Electric – LiAnna Gusso (Kerry Canada Inc)
• Counterbalanced Propane – Randy Langwell (Americold)
• Power Pallet Jack – Stephen Myckatyn (EV Logistics – Ambient)

Third Place

• Reach Truck – Krystian Michalak (RC Products Ltd.)
• Counterbalanced Electric – Michal Obuchowicz (Kal Tire)
• Counterbalanced Propane – Tom Lavigne (Ainsworth Engineered)
• Power Pallet Jack – Ian Campbell (Versacold Cliveden)

Media Coverage

The event caught the attention of local media being featured on a major Canadian TV network during the noon and evening television news. Event Manager John Gilder said “We have never received press like this before. We received numerous calls and emails from people wanting to compete next year due to exposure we received.”

• Global BC News-the event ended up as the sign off piece on both the noon and evening news the day of the event (directions for viewing above video: after the news broadcast starts you will need to forward the time slider on the video to about 34:30 and then watch a commercial or two first before the Forklift Rally news piece comes on) 
• Vancouver Province – the province did a video interview of the event and an article that landed ono page for of the Sunday paper. – Click here to view the Video Coverage from the Vancouver Province 
• Forkliftaction.com – we received extensive coverage from Forkliftaction.com, the most read forklift website in the world, with a newsletter distribution of 200,000 readers – Click here to read the winners announcement article.

2013 Forklift Rally

The event organizers, the Canadian Material Handling & Distribution Society (CMHDS) have already announced next year’s competition will take place on May 4th, 2013 and would like to thank all competitors, spectators and volunteers for making the 2012 event a success.

Supporters & Suppliers

Forklifts were supplied by Johnston Equipment (Raymond), Harding Forklift (Yale) & Williams Machinery (Clark) and racking was supplied and setup by Johnston Equipment.

All judges are certified trainers hailing from a variety of mobile equipment training companies including Pivot Training Services (www.pivotservices.ca), NIS Training (www.nistraining.com), DWM Unlimited,  Don Sayers Associates (www.donsayersassociates.com) and Martin’s Forklift (www.martinsforklift.com).

Pallets were supplied by London Drugs (www.londondrugs.com), transportation was provided by ATS Healthcare (www.atshealthcare.ca) and traffic cones & barrels were provided by Coast Mountain Bus (www.coastmountainbus.com).

Sponsors

The event is held in partnership with WorkSafeBC (www.worksafebc.com), and sponsors include Johnston Equipment (www.johnstonequipment.com), East Penn Manufacturing (www.eastpenncanada.com), Harding Forklift Services Ltd. (www.hardingforklift.com), Williams Machinery (www.williamsmachinery.com), NIS Training (www.nistraining.com), Forkliftaction.com (www.Forkliftaction.com), TVH (www.tvhamericas.com), FIOSA-MIOSA (www.fmiosa.com), Pivot Industrial Training Services (www.pivotservices.ca) and Adecco Employment Services (www.adecco.ca).

We’ve had the BC Lions Cheerleaders at the Rally and a few years ago we had the Terminal City Roller Girls come out and join the event. This year we would like to introduce you to our own cheer team . . . The Forklift Rally Girls.

With the 2012 event having four divisions of competition, that means we’ll have four obstacle courses running simultaneously throughout the day and well have a member of the team at each course acting as hostess and cheerleader welcoming competitors to the course and helping get the crowd cheering.

So come out and join us on Saturday May 5th and say hello the Rally Girls and if your not competing, come out and cheer on your friends, family & co-workers!

Rally Girls provided by L2 Models – www.L2Models.com

About NAOSH Week

The success of NAOSH Week is rooted in a community-based approach. Across the country, NAOSH Week events and activities are coordinated by local, provincial and/or regional committees, comprised primarily of volunteers, who share a focus and vision of safer workplaces and communities. Partnerships with government, business, suppliers, CSSE Chapters, community health organizations and other safety groups provide the support, resources and network necessary to manage the NAOSH Week plans.

History of NAOSH Week

NAOSH Week – North American Occupational Safety and Health Week – was first launched in June 1997, marked by an agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico. CSSE’s Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Week (COHS) had been observed for ten years previously (1986-1996). During the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks between the governments of Mexico, United States, and Canada, workplace safety within the boundaries of all three nations was discussed by government labour department representatives. Canada’s representative at these talks was familiar with Canada’s COHS Week and suggested to his Mexican and American counterparts that their countries may wish to become involved in a similar endeavor.

Subsequently, CSSE was approached for permission and support to expand the COHS Week format and experience to Mexico and the United States. After many meetings between Labour Canada and the CSSE COHS Committee in 1995, the proposal to expand the COHS format into the North American arena was formalized with the CSSE Board of Directors at their spring 1996 meeting. It was agreed that CSSE would adopt the North American concept and implement it in place of the Canadian Week. Labour Canada agreed to ensure that CSSE was the officially recognized safety organization responsible for NAOSH Week. Labour Canada would also play the lead political role for North America for three years, after which there would be a review. CSSE was responsible for all management, marketing, policy, administration, etc. related to NAOSH Week, and was deemed the proprietor and governing body.

In September 1996, the agreement was taken to the NAFTA meeting and all parties agreed to the proposal. NAOSH Week was established. NAOSH Week was and implemented under this agreement between 1997 and 2000.

Since 2000, the responsibility and management of NAOSH Week has continued under CSSE’s leadership. Partnering with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOHS), and the Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), and Threads of Life. CSSE works hard to promote and encourage the goals of NAOSH. Along with the efforts of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), NAOSH Week continues to be a truly continent-wide event.

John Gilder, General Manager of the B.C. Championship Forklift Rally said “While I only knew Dick by reputation, I have followed the U.S. Open Forklift Rodeo for years and had hoped to one day attend the event and meet him. Dick was a leader in the forklift competition community and will be missed.”

In June 2000, he established the Higgins Group. He focused on providing forklift operator training, creation of multiple competitive forklift rodeos in US and foreign locations and giving expert-witness testimony about forklift safety.

He was a founding member and the first chairman of the Springfield-Clark County Safety Council in 1994. He was instrumental in 1995 in starting a local forklift rodeo that developed into the widely recognised US Open Forklift Rodeo & Safety Expo, which ran until 2010.

Higgins developed and marketed a 300-page instructional manual regarding forklift rodeo course layouts, possible individual and team events and pre-competition promotion.

(Portions of this post are sourced from an article originally reported by Forkliftaction.com – click here to view the original article).

John Gilder, General Manager of the CMHDS & the Forklift Rally said “It’s great to have such a prestigious organization such as Forkliftaction.com on board. Many forklift safety competitions, such as ours, operate at the grassroots level and have limited access to public promotion. Forkliftaction.com’s commitment to promoting & supporting events such as these says a lot about their commitment to the mobile equipment industry.”

“Forkliftaction.com provided promotion and coverage of our 14th Annual Event and helped drive a lot of traffic and attention to event’s website (ForkliftRally.com). After the event we began talking about taking our relationship to the next level and our partnership with regards to the May 2012 event is the culmination of those discussions.” said Gilder.

About Forkliftaction.com

Forkliftaction.com is the online reference, news service and marketplace for the global materials handling industry.

With correspondents in Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States, Forkliftaction.com now has over 53,000 members and an estimated 190,000+ newsletter recipients. Readers can trust Forkliftaction.com as they are an independent organisation, with no affiliation to any manufacturers.

For independent industry news, discussion forums, business directory, marketplace, spec checker, and industry events, register free at: http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/statlink.asp?statlinkid=8804.

The event drew competitors from as far away as Washington State and in addition to obstacle courses that tested operator’s best practices and forklift skills they also had a chance to try their hand at Forklift Bowling, Basketball & Soccer.

In addition to the competition there were side attractions to entertain the spectators as the day progressed. The team from Johnston Equipment (Raymond) were grilling up smokies on the barbeque, Adecco Employment brought out a bouncy castle for the kids, a few of the BC Lions Cheerleaders came out to pose for pictures with spectators and the Harding Motorsports Race Car was also on site.

This year also featured the “Magic Forklift” RFID Safety System (as profiled in ForkliftAction.com) with the owner and system inventor, Rick Shervey offering the judging team a $100 prize to the winner of a “Judges Bowl-Off” competition after the official competition had completed.

John Gilder, General Manager of Forklift Rally commented “Normally when we are finalizing the scoring a few people will ask, how long until the Awards Ceremony as even 10 minutes can seem like an eternity. This year as we tallied up the winners all we could hear was the cheering for the “Judges Bowl-Off”!

In the Counterbalanced division Randy Langwell of AmeriCold took first place. “Randy has been competing for a number of years and has always done well but until now had not made it to the winners circle. This year he was on his game and passed right by second and third to take first place.” said Dan Beer, CMHDS President & Rally Co-Founder.

In the Narrow Aisle Reach Truck Division, James Ralphs of London Drugs took first place. “James placed first in 2007, 2009 and now again in 2011. He seems to have this thing about winning every other year.” joked Gilder.

(front row – left to right) Tryston Adachi, Jamie Fofanoff, Cory Endersby (back row) Mark Chiccarelli, John Jepsen, Andy Ibbotson, Randy Langwell, Angelo Balatsas, James Ralphs.

In the Power Pallet Jack Division, Mark Chiccarelli of Wallace & Carey took the top position. Chiccarelli, another long time competitor has placed second and third in previous events and now has a first place trophy to make a complete set.

The event organizers, the Canadian Material Handling & Distribution Society (CMHDS) have already announced next year’s competition will take place on May 5th, 2012 and would like to thank all competitors, spectators and volunteers for making the event a success.

 Forklifts were supplied by Johnston Equipment (Raymond), Harding Forklift (Yale) & Williams Machinery (Clark) and racking was supplied and setup by Johnston Equipment. All judges are certified trainers hailing from a variety of mobile equipment training companies including Pivot Training Services, NIS Training & DWM Unlimited.

1ST PLACE

• Mark Chiccarelli – Wallace & Carey – Power Pallet Jack Division
• James Ralphs – London Drugs – Reach Truck Division
• Randy Langwell – Americold – Counterbalanced Division

2ND PLACE

• Tryston Adachi – Best Buy – Power Pallet Jack Division
• Cory Endersby – i to i Logisitics – Reach Truck Division
• John Jepsen – Kodak – Counterbalanced Division

3RD PLACE

• Jamie Fofanoff – Best Buy – Power Pallet Jack Division
• Angelo Balatsas – Toyota Canada – Reach Truck Division
• Andy Ibbotson – Americold – Counterbalanced Division

Congratulations to all of our competitors and many thanks to our sponsors, volunteers & supporters.

The Harding Motorsport Race Car returns to the Forklift Rally and along with BC’s finest forklift operators, the BC Lions Cheerleaders, The Magic Forklift, The Bouncy Castle, the lunchtime BBQ and more there will be plenty to see and do at this year’s event.

Bring out the family and make a day of it! Remember spectators are admitted for free!

So, a couple of the Lions Cheerleaders will be joining us at around 11:00am to take in the Rally, pose for pictures with attendees and then be on hand to help out and pose for pictures in the awards ceremony.

If you’ve ever wanted to meet some of the Felion’s (from closer than the stands) here’s your chance!

 

 
From ForkliftAction.com

RFID Safety System Moving Toward Market Tests

An innovative safety system utilizing active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags may get tested on actual job sites during 2011, with the idea of gaining market entry within one year.

Pro-Active Safety Systems Technologies Inc (PSST) continues in the research-and-development phase “so we have not sold any of our systems into the marketplace at this time”, says Rick Shervey, PSST director. “The potential of our product is enormous, when you consider the fact that it is designed for use on virtually every type of mobile equipment” including dump trucks, skid steer loaders, overhead cranes and forklifts.

Applying the technology can pose challenges. For example, “forklifts are the hardest type of machine to make our system work on”, notes Shervey, who has experience as an industrial electrician. “These machines are so varied in their work environments that they create many issues that we are now in the process of solving.”

PSST utilises a highly advanced form of RFID that allows both a machine operator and people in the vicinity to receive warnings simultaneously.

“We are probably the only company in the world that possesses this technology for our usage,” he contents. “We have many patents pending at this time. We don’t say how we can do short range detection, but we are very good at it.”

The project is perceived as being more than 80% complete.

“PSST has made research breakthroughs that have stopped all of the other companies cold,” Shervey reports. “We need the government to continue supporting our efforts so we can launch the product soon.”

PSST has received funding from the province, nation and shareholders.

“WorkSafeBC has been a staunch supporter of PSST since the very beginning,” he notes. Three separate consecutive-year WorkSafeBC innovation-at-work grants to PSST have totaled almost CAD250,000 (USD257,000). Within British Columbia, the WorkSafeBC organisation promotes workplace health and safety, consults with and educates employers and workers, and monitors compliance with provincial occupational health and safety regulations.

PSST is applying for another WorkSafeBC grant this year. “We hope that they find our research important enough to fund us one more time,” he says.

The government of Canada has given PSST three consecutive funding contributions that add up to about CAD350,000.

In the midst of difficult economic times, “we have successfully raised CAD1.25 million from selling shares”, he says. “We estimate that we will need about CAN800,000 to CAN1 million more to make it to the marketplace with the product.”

Shervey and another industrial electrician, John DaSilva, founded PSST five years ago. “Yes, we did build the prototype in our garage,” Shervey recalls.

PSST is aware of five highly publicised fatal accidents over the past three years involving mobile equipment in the Canadian province of Alberta.

“With our prototype system, PSST can demonstrate that it could have helped to prevent at least three and perhaps four of these incidents, and when we finish the go-to-market unit, we believe that the product would have protected all five of those workers,” he says. “Keep in mind that we would never claim to be able to prevent all mobile equipment accidents, but we feel that our research will result in a product that can make a huge difference in our workplace safety. Not just here in Canada, but around the world as well.”

PSST conducted a system test of its technology with overhead cranes in the pot lines at Rio Tinto/Alcan Aluminum smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia.

“The smelter is an area of huge radio interference with very high magnetic fields,” he says. “We tested it there because it had the worst radio environment that we could imagine.”

Once the system is workplace tested, “we will have a device that can be programmed to suit almost every workplace need,” he says. “System settings will depend upon the jobsite requirements as will be determined by machine use, and the safety authorities on the individual jobsites themselves.”

PSST would like to collaborate with some original equipment manufacturers in order to integrate its system into their machines’ electronic control systems. “At this point we have been unable to attract their interest,” he says.

“Many people believe in us, but this product is definitely not like a software product where we can sell it to people and fix the glitches later,” Shervey says. “We need to have all the foreseeable glitches figured out before we can sell it.”

While the PSST team views saving lives as all important, “I hope that the people in the government share our concerns at the same level,” he notes. “Failure to receive government support will cause PSST to curtail our research and slow our path to market.”

The research work is conducted under PSST, but certain end-market products would be marketed through three other entities under PSST. In the case of mobile equipment, it would be PSST Mobile Equipment Ltd. Each entity would own the respective product’s intellectual property.

Join us on Saturday June 25th, 2011 at the Cloverdale Agriplex for the 14th Annual BC Championship Forklift Rally. Last years event drew almost 90 competitors and had 500 people in attendance. We are pulling out all the stops this year to make sure the 2011 Forklift Rally eclipses all previous competitor & attendee numbers.

• Free Admission For Spectators – Bring your friends and view the event for free!
• Competitors in the Counterbalance Division will get the chance to sink a basket in Forklift Basketball!
• New for this year, competitors in Reach Truck division will be Forklift Bowling!
• Get your picture taken with the BC Lions Cheerleaders!
• Bouncy Castle for the kids!
• Attendees can try out the The “Magic Forklift” RFID Safety System
• The Latest & Greatest Forklifts – there will be a trade show with Rally sponsors showing off their products, services & new forklifts!

What Happens at Forklift Rally?

If you have never seen forklift skills competition before and are thinking about attending or competing we suggest you check out these pages within our website. You can also take a look at our YouTube Channel and photos of past years events on Flickr.

• What is a Forklift Rally?
• Competitor Orientation
• Our YouTube Channel
• Flickr Photos of past events

Date / Location

Saturday June 25th, 2011 at the Cloverdale Agriplex, 17798 62 Avenue, Surrey, BC

Event Agenda

• 8:00am – Competitor Sign-In (Competitors check in at sign-in table, confirm their division)
• 8:30am – Obstacle Course Competitor Orientation (Judges walk all competitors through the obstacle courses explaining all tasks)
• 9:00am – Competition Begins
• 1:30pm - Awards Ceremony (time approximate)

Event Promotion

Need help in promoting the event to your employees or colleagues? Click here to download the Rally Poster (letter sized) or call the Forklift Rally office at 604-999-2979. We’d be happy to come to your workplace and speak about the event at a shift start-up or lunch meeting.

Sponsors