Thorworld boss blasts dud imports
June 1st 2005 The head of a major manufacturer and supplier of loading bay and materials handling equipment has criticised the lack of quality standards in some cheap imports entering the UK.
Thorworld boss John Meale (right), claims he recently came across a new loading ramp made in Eastern Europe that he considered was totally unsafe to use.
“I was appaled – it did not have the CE-mark and was a major health and safety hazard,” he said. “The welding on it was so poor you could see that there was little or no real weld penetration. The ramp was bent, the hydraulics did not work and the floor was weak,” he continued. “I dread to think what would happen if someone attempted to drive a loaded forklift truck to the rated capacity on it.” A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics (FCILT), Meale is also former president of the British Materials Handing Federation (BMHF), a past Chairman of dud imports the Association of Loading & Elevating Equipment Manufacturers (ALEM), is currently a board member of the Federation Europeenne de la Manutention (FEM) – the European Federation of Materials Handling, and is also President of the FEM Product Group on Elevating Equipment – so he knows what he’s talking about.
“Price should not be the only measure when sourcing new equipment,” he said.
“Companies should avoid inferior imitations at all costs: If it doesn’t have the CE mark, it jeopardises the health and safety of personnel.” More articles from Thorworld Industries: | 
