2020 Forklift Operator of the Year Wrap Up - Brisbane Markets®

IMAGE CAPTION: 2020 FOOTY Competitors

For several years Brisbane Markets® (BML) has held their annual Forklift Operator of the Year competition. This year the initiative is held in association with Eaton Services Group, Brismark, SBP Australia, TDDA and Toyota Material Handling to recognise the positive contributions to safety that forklift operators make in their daily activities.

As in years past, the competition ran over several weeks. All participants were observed and scored for their safe work practices and assessed by Market Officers, Operations senior staff, Brismark staff, Work Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) representatives, and the BML Advisory Committee members. The top ten operators then competed over a timed, practical course for a share in the $5,000 prize money.

It is the sixth year the annual competition has been run at BML, which is home to the largest concentration of forklifts on any site in Queensland - with 390 registered forklifts and 1,055 forklift operator permits active on the site.

With the competition observation period running over six weeks, the event works to influence the safety culture of BML over an extended period, rather than just on the Grand Final day. The challenging course is designed to test their forklift operating skills in a controlled environment. It works as a fantastic reminder for the Brisbane Markets® community to keep forklift safety and driver responsibility top of mind.

Further, as a proud sponsor of the event and supplier to BML, our cleaning operatives supported on the big day, ensuring each of the competition forklifts remains safe and sanitised throughout driver change over.

IMAGE CAPTION: 2020 Forklift Operator of the Year, Adam Crawley, awarded his winner’s cheque by BML CEO Andrew Young.

Well done to all the 2020 Forklift Operator of the Year Competitors; the Top 10 Finalists all did a spectacular job on the day. A big congratulations to Adam Crawley for taking out the top spot, Andrew Brearley for placing second, and Alfred Finau, who rounded out the top three. The skill displayed across the course was exceptional.

The Top 10 Finalists included:

• Telea Tuala- Franklin Bros

• Jimmy Shannon – Shamrock Marketing

• Zygmunt Chmielarski – Murray Bros

• Adam Crawley – Franklin Bros #1

• Alfred Finau – Costa Farms #3

• Patrick Appleyard – Gibb Bros

• Peter Szucs – J.Allen

• Andrew Charles Brearley – Ireland53 #2

• Steven Bristow – O’Toole Produce

• Wayne Brisbane – Rising Sun

Eaton Services Group looks forward to being part of future initiatives just like this. Sharing in the Brisbane Markets Safety Month activities and the Forklift Operator of the Year Competition has been a rewarding and exhilarating experience for all involved.