Forklift Safety

No one starts out with the innate knowledge, skills, and abilities to safely operate a forklift. Operating a forklift without training is dangerous and can prove to be fatal to the operator or others. 

According to OSHA, each year, tens of thousands of iryuries related to forklifts occur in the United States. Many iryuries occur when lift trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks, lifts fall between a dock and an unsecured trailer, people are struck by a lift truck, or people fall while on elevated pallets and tines. 

Most injuries can be directly attributed to lack of safe operating procedures, lack of safety-rule enforcement, and insufficient or inadequate training. 

It s an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirement for forklift drivers to be properly trained and evaluated for competency at least every three years. The rules require that forklift training be specific to the equipment drivers operate and specific to the conditions (location) under which the equipment is operated. 

Training can help prevent or reduce the severity of an accident related to the stability of a lift truck traveling with an elevated load. Keeping the load as low as possible 

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Six-video set falls, forklift safety, hazardous chemicals, overexertion, skin care, and blows and contusions. 

Horbeny, T., Larsson, T., Johnston, I. and Lambert, J. (2004), Forklift safety, traffic engineering and intelligent transport systems a case study , Applied Ergonomics, 35(6), 575-81. 

Swartz, George. Powered Walkie/Rider Pallet Trucks. Forklift Safety A Practical Guide for Preventing Incidents and Injuries. Rockville, MD Government Institutes. 1997. pp.59-68. 

Powered industrial trucks require daily inspections before they are put into use. This is one of the most neglected parts of a forklift safety program. The material in this chapter provides a means to properly inspect each forklift. Without inspections, forklifts can cause injuries due to faulty brakes, steering or other mechanical failures. The inspection form should be processed properly so hazards are corrected on a timely basis. Because powered hand trucks are frequently inspected on a regular basis, a form. Figure 12-8, was created. 

There is more to JSO than just watching someone work. Forklift operators have to know many safety rules and guidelines. In the example cited above, observation of the worker includes a focus on the adherence to forklift safety rules. If the worker is performing the job in an unsafe manner, the supervisor must advise the worker on the safe way to do the job. If conditions in the work area need correcting, the supervisor must also work toward the elimination of any unsafe conditions. Driving into an unchocked trailer is an unsafe condition as well as unsafe behavior. It is the duty of the lift truck operator to ensure that trailers are chocked. 

Facility Safety - Machine guarding housekeeping forklift safety showers eyewashes LOTO flooring fire safety security emergency response. 

Electric or fuel-powered means of transporting soHd materials, such as forklift tmcks, should be employed only when full consideration has been given to any ha2ardous atmospheres in which these might be used. Such transport must be properly maintained to preserve the integrity of built-in safety... 

Forklift Operations, Safety Guide SG-6, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Washington, D.C., 1960. 

In addition to improving safety during transportation by optimizing the mode, route, physical conditions, and container design, the way the shipment is handled should be examined to see if safety can be improved. For example, one company tested to determine the speed required for the tines of the forklift trucks used at its terminal to penetrate its shipping containers. They installed governors on the forklift trucks to limit the speed below the speed required for penetration. They also specified blunt tine ends for the forklifts. 

Accumulators in increased safety - e - cover traction batteries for locomotives in coal mines (see Fig. 6.4) as well as batteries for forklifts in chemical plants or other transportation vehicles running in hazardous areas powered by their own energy storage system. Much smaller accumulators are used as a mains-independent power source for handlamps and caplamps (Fig. 6.65) used in potentially explosive atmospheres. 

Safe and effective procedures for handling chemical drums. Types of drums, inspection and opening, unlabeled drums, waste segregation, overpacking, forklifts, drum dollies, and back safety. Part of eignt-volume series, Working in the Hazard Zone. ... 

Demonstration of poor safety attitude. Emphasizes safe work practices, and personal responsibility. Safety precautions and personal protection for chemical handling, polymers, caustic soda, forklifts, personal hygiene, hearing, and first aid. 

As is often said, it is the little things that count. To this end, safety and loss prevention professionals have utilized many activities to focus on the safety and loss prevention aspects of employees jobs. For example, many safety and loss prevention professionals utilize the concept of forklift rodeos to help employees to sharpen their forklift skills as well as to identify and study the safety aspects of driving a forklift. This type of event is not only fun for the employees but also encourages the employees families and members of management to have fun, as well, and emphasize the aspects of safety and loss prevention. 

Walkie trucks can be considered the battery-powered version of the hand-operated forklift trucks. They are equipped with wheeled forks used to lift loads. The worker usually does not ride on the vehicle, but he controls the speed and the steering systems by using a control handle in front of the vehicle. For safety reasons, the maximum speed is limited to about 5 km/h, therefore no more than the normal speed of a human worker. 

Findings. Operating forklift trucks without overhead protection in place violates OSHA standard 1910.178, Powered Industrial Trucks as weU as ANSl/ASME B56.1-1992, Safety Standards for Low Lift and High Lift Tmcks. 

The value of this tool is that you can continue to repeat it over and over again on the same process. Here is an example based on my experience of how it can be used within a safety program. An end of the year review of all safety incidents revealed that the category with the highest number of incidents was forklifts incidents. Follow the PDCA actions below that were used to turn this safety concern around. 

Inspection — A pre-operational inspection is required for each forklift daily. If the forklift is used 24 horns a day, it must also be inspected at the end of each shift. If the forklift has a condition that adversely affects the safety of the vehicle it must not be placed in service. 

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