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Across Australia’s warehouses, ports, and distribution centres, forklifts are vital to productivity and remain one of the leading causes of serious workplace injuries. According to Safe Work Australia, 200 Australian workers lost their lives in 2023, with vehicle-related incidents, including forklifts accounting for 42 percent of all fatalities.¹
Beyond the personal safety risk, increased forklift activity also exposes business owners and directors to significant liability. Under Australia’s workplace health and safety legislation, directors have a duty of care to ensure risks from mobile plant are effectively controlled. Failing to do so can lead to severe financial and legal consequences. Safe Work Australia estimates that the national cost of work-related injury and disease exceeds tens of billions of dollars annually, including lost time, insurance, and productivity costs.²
Traditional proximity systems were designed to prevent these incidents, but fixed detection zones and excessive false alerts often lead to operator fatigue and frustration, reducing effectiveness and undermining trust in the technology.
SonaSafe Lite+ has been purpose-built to solve these challenges. Its intelligent dynamic exclusion zones adapt precisely to each work environment, enabling genuine alerts without unnecessary noise. During setup, bubble shapes and safe zones are configured to reflect real-world site layouts, detecting obscured pedestrians around racks, pallets, or blind corners. The result is fewer false positives and more actionable data for safety teams.
With SonaSafe Lite+, Australian safety managers can:
Based on your configuration, SonaSafe Lite+ delivers real-time alerts to drivers and pedestrians when warning or stop zones are breached. Real-time feedback enables both parties to react instantly and reinforces positive safety behaviour across the workforce.
Installation is simple. SonaSafe Lite+ connects directly to 12 V, 24 V, 48 V, or 80 V forklift systems and can typically be installed within hours. Training is equally straightforward. With forklift driver turnover among the highest in the logistics and industrial sectors, SonaSafe Lite+ features intuitive visual and audio cues that make onboarding fast and retention high. Operators quickly understand the system’s function, purpose, and value to daily safety.
Prevention is only the beginning. The SonaSafe cloud-based dashboard provides continuous monitoring and behavioural insight across every shift and site. Devices are connected 24/7, with data accessible anywhere through the SonaSafe incident management platform.
The dashboard includes:
This visibility transforms data into action, reducing incidents and supporting long-term cultural change.
“We established a temporary site without activating SonaSafe. Remarkably, the team—comprising staff previously accustomed to SonaSafe-enabled environments—continued to observe exclusion zones diligently. This experience underscores the enduring influence of SonaSafe on our workforce’s safety practices, highlighting that safety consciousness has become an ingrained aspect of our daily operations.”
— Rob McMillan, KiwiRail Manager of Container Terminals for the North Island
Under Safe Work Australia’s Model WHS Regulations, employers must manage risks associated with mobile plant and separate people from machinery as far as reasonably practicable. Configurable proximity technology is now one of the most effective ways to meet this obligation while creating safer, more efficient worksites.
By reducing false alerts, simplifying training, and promoting behavioural accountability, SonaSafe Lite+ helps Australian industries—from logistics and manufacturing to mining and construction—achieve measurable safety gains and move closer to zero harm.
➡️ See how SonaSafe helped KiwiRail cut near misses by 90 percent. Book a demo or contact our team.
Sources:
¹ Safe Work Australia Key Work Health and Safety Statistics 2024
² Safe Work Australia Cost of Work-related Injuries Report
KiwiRail
