The Netherlands Labour Authority investigated 309 workplace accidents involving collisions with forklift trucks between 2020 and 2025. This equates to more than 51 notifiable workplace accidents being investigated each year, or an average of one serious accident per week. This information is included in the new Work-related Accidents Monitor 2025 (Monitor Arbeidsongevallen 2025), in which the Netherlands Labour Authority shares figures on workplace accidents over the past 6 years.
The accidents in question involved forklift trucks and similar mobile equipment, such as pallet trucks, reach trucks – sideloaders – and telehandlers used for internal transport in, for example, a warehouse or a distribution centre. The majority of accidents occurred in the transport and storage, manufacturing and trade sectors. In 10 cases, the accident turned out to be fatal. In many cases, the injuries were feet, ankle and leg fractures.
Not seeing each other
Most collisions are not caused by a technical fault or a loss of control of the vehicle, but by a recurring problem, namely the driver and/or the victim not seeing each other in time. Although this could be down to physical objects blocking their view, such as loads, pallets or racks, a phenomenon called attention blindness is also likely to play a role. This is when people do not consciously register a dangerous situation, even though it is within their field of vision.
Employers have a role to play in preventing accidents at work. In their employer reports – which are usually mandatory following an accident – employers set out a wide range of proposed measures to prevent collisions involving forklift trucks. Many of the measures referred to are organisational in nature and include, among other things, measures relating to instructions, behavioural modifications, planning or supervision. Other measures focus on tackling the root cause, or are technological in nature, such as reducing the number of forklift trucks or installing automatic detection systems.
Preventing accidents
The Netherlands Labour Authority wants employers to do their best to prevent accidents at work. It uses information gathered by inspectors during accident investigations to produce informative resources on accident characteristics. These resources are designed to help employers, industries and sectors learn from experience and are used to implement measures to improve health and safety at work. The annual Work-related Accidents Monitor is one such resource.
Key figures from the Work-related Accidents Monitor
The Netherlands Labour Authority completed 2,230 investigations into notifiable accidents in 2025. That equates to 24 accidents per 100,000 jobs. The accidents in question involved 2,267 victims, with 40 resulting fatalities. A total of 33 percent of the accidents resulted in permanent injuries, with 58 percent resulting in injuries which are presumed to be non-permanent.
The key figures are broadly similar to those of previous years, although the number of investigations completed in 2025 is higher than in 2024. The figures explicitly do not reflect the number of workplace accidents that occurred during 2025, but instead the number of investigations completed in that year. We provide figures on the number of victims over the course of a year in our annual report.
We invite you to read the Work-related Accidents Monitor (Dutch) and take a look at the special feature on forklift trucks (Dutch).
