Raben Employees Dance with Pallets in the Grand Finale

On Saturday, January 11, 2020, there was the Final of the competition for forklift operators Dances with Pallets. The competition was organized in Raben Group's largest distribution centre in Gądki near Poznań. Twenty finalists selected in the regional qualifications from among the company employees tested their skills in two trials: a high level puzzle and a transit obstacle course.

Raben Group has organized the Dances with Pallets competition together with Still Polska for the sixth time. This year, all Polish companies of Raben Group were represented: Raben Logistics Polska, Fresh Logistics Polska and Raben Transport. The aim of the competition is primarily to raise awareness among warehouse workers about the safety of work in the warehouse, but also to highlight and appreciate the role of forklift operators.

“The Dances with Pallets competition is already a kind of tradition in our company. When organizing it, we have 2 goals in mind: building the safety culture and motivating warehouse workers by appreciating their skills. - comments Ewa Mendak, HR Manager at Raben Logistics Polska - The growing popularity of the competition is the best proof that Raben Group is successfully pursuing its strategy of creating an engaging work environment, among others by organizing non-standard educational initiatives for employees.

Each year, qualifications for the Grand Finale consist of two parts: theoretical workshops focused on presenting good practices and desired behaviours, and a practical component during which forklift operators have to demonstrate great precision when navigating a route with obstacles.

“The competition is getting more and more popular from year to year. During this year's qualifications, the operators had an opportunity to consolidate the knowledge about safety, which was then tested on the pre-prepared track, where we checked their behaviour in practice. Eliminations were extremely fierce, but the best of the best were selected and in the Final they competed not only for the podium, but also for prestige and recognition.” - comments Paweł Włuka, Marketing Director STILL STILL Polska - “The Final trials, despite the fact that the form itself differs from the day-to-day work in the warehouse, allow for checking the skills in terms of precision, speed of operations, but above all correctness and compliance with the rules, i.e. the key factors affecting work safety.”

This year, over 65 forklift operators from all over Poland took part in the contest. Qualifications for the Grand Finale took place in autumn 2019 in 8 distribution centres of Raben Group, among others in Gliwice, Stryków, Gniewomierz, Gądki, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Chlebnia, Rzeszów and Lisi Ogon. It's worth mentioning that three ladies also took part in qualifications.

The competition for forklift operators organized every year is a great opportunity not only to check the knowledge and skills of the operators, but also a chance to appreciate the difficult work of warehouse workers. Not everyone realizes what precision and accuracy it requires. The second benefit is the promotion of safe behaviours in the workplace. 

Health and safety are non-negotiable values and they are an integral part of Raben Group corporate culture. Changing dangerous behaviours into safe habits allows for protecting life and health. Therefore, all Raben Group employees are engaged in building the robust safety culture. The Dances with Pallets competition, which promotes safety in warehouses, perfectly fits into Raben Group's Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) policy.

The winners of the Grand Finale of the DANCES WITH PALLETS 2020:

Transit obstacle course:

1. Adam Kukuś – Raben Transport – Gniewomierz depot

2. Sebastian Wiśniewski - Raben Logistics Polska - Lisi Ogon depot

3. Adam Turaczyk -  Raben Logistics Polska - Cholerzyn depot

High level puzzle:

1. Daniel Kostros – Raben Logistics Polska – Chorzów depot

2. Marcin Cygan – Raben Logistics Polska – Stryków depot

3. Paweł Szymański - Fresh Logistics Polska - Grodzisk Mazowiecki depot