Mark Ellis: Man loses leg in horror forklift accident
Workplace safety is a hot button topic – and for good reason, says Mark Ellis who lost his leg in a horror forklift accident.
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It can happen in a second – one momentary lapse of concentration and your life can be irreversibly changed. That’s the message Mark Ellis, a SafeWork Ambassador, wants people to know to ensure other workers don’t go through what he did.
Mr Ellis lost his right leg in a horrific forklift accident in Sydney in May 2016.
While Mr Ellis’ warehouse job was office-based, he said on the day of the accident he “had to go out and look for some material”, he told 7 NEWS.
“During that process, I took a step back to look upwards and the guy on the big side-loader forklift collided with me and dragged my right foot underneath the forklift,” he said.
Mr Ellis’ right leg was crushed to the knee and eventually needed to be amputated.
He now walks with a prosthetic leg.
Mr Ellis said the impact on his family has been immense, particularly his partner Linda.
“Life is much different to what it was,” he said.
“Life is OK but you just do a lot of things a lot differently.
“I’m lucky enough, I can still do lots of things I enjoy and did enjoy in the past … but you have to think about it a lot more now.”
He added there is a “brotherhood” of support among people he meets who have also had amputations.
As a SafeWork Ambassador, Mr Ellis now spends time talking to forklift operators and owners about safety and how to avoid similar outcomes.
“If we stuff up here, that’s what I could do to one of my workmates,” he said of workplaces that involve the frequent operation of forklifts.
Mr Ellis detailed the horrifying experience at a safety conference at Sydney Markets on Tuesday, as authorities look into ways of improving worker safety.
NSW Industrial Relations and Minister Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis joined Mr Ellis at the safety conference at Sydney Markets.
Ms Cotsis said similar safety conferences will be rolled out across the state as part of a plan to reduce injuries in the workplace.
“For forklift safety, we want to see zero-tolerance and that’s why today’s session was very, very important,’ she said.
The NSW government also plans to increase the presence of safety inspectors in the workplace.
According to the Australian Institute of Work and Safety, more workplace injuries and deaths involve forklifts than any other type of equipment.
In the past four years, eight people have died as a result of forklift incidents in the workplace.
carla.mascarenhas@news.com.au
Originally published as Mark Ellis: Man loses leg in horror forklift accident
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