Feature: Forklift Operator of the Year

Feature

Crawley overcomes setback to win Forklift Operator of the Year for 2020

Adam Crawley has been crowned the 2020 Brisbane Produce Market Forklift Operator of the Year after a hotly contested grand final at Brisbane Markets on Wednesday, 28 October. The Franklin Bros forklift operator beat the competition to the $3,000 top prize, with Ireland53’s Andrew Brearley securing $1,500 for second place and Costa Farms’ Alfred Finau awarded $500 for third.

Crawley managed to overcome what was potentially a major setback when he clipped two pallets and lost some of his load of plastic balls, designed to represent the fragility of fresh produce forklift operators transport every day, as he reversed through the course. This error added precious seconds onto his course time of 2 minutes and 8 seconds, which was 13 seconds faster than the next fastest competitor. The grand final judges add seconds to each competitor’s course time while assessing their skill and competency over five categories. Fortunately for Crawley, near perfect scores in four of the five judging categories meant that, even with a 30 second time penalty added after hitting the two pallets, he still managed to take out the title ahead of Mr Brearley, by a margin of just one second in what was his first year entering the competition. “I’m definitely happy to have the trophy. Congratulations go to everyone who competed, they all did really well. I’m very happy for all of us,” Mr Crawley said.

“I think it’s important to have an event like this on site to help promote safety amongst the forklift operators.” The 2020 Forklift Operator of the Year competition was sponsored by Brismark, The Drug Detection Agency, Toyota Material Handling, Eaton Services Group and SBP Australia, with the event hosted by Brisbane Markets Limited. It is the sixth year that the annual competition has been run at Brisbane Markets, 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 site.

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

The top three: runner up Andrew Brearly, winner Adam Crawley and third place getter Alfred Finau.

In the family: Alfred Finau during his run that won him third place. Alfred is the brother of last year’s winner Na’a Finau.

Originally launched to promote forklift safety, the competition has steadily gained traction and is now a fan-favourite fixture in the Brisbane Produce Market events calendar.

Forklift operators participated in a month-long observation period, where they were scored on their adherence to safety and traffic rules on the Brisbane Markets site.

After collating over 500 scoresheets, the entrants were narrowed down to the top 10 who competed in the grand final obstacle course in front of the crowd that gathered within the Brisbane Produce Market to watch the spectacle. Mr Crawley even had some advice for next year’s finalists. “Make sure you go fast and don’t drop the balls!”

A familiar face in the competition, Ziggy Chmielarski takes a run at the course.

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