Tipover Incident

Where possible, have a powered industrial truck lift the portable dock plate to prevent workers from being injured. Stay clear of the movement of the lift truck and plate. When not in use, store plates flat on the floor. If placed against a wall, the angle of the ranq) must be proper to prevent a struck-by tipover incident. 

In a study of 804 injuries and incidents involving narrow-aisle lift trucks, tipover accounted for 127 of the reported claims, or 16 percent of the total. In the case of a narrow-aisle truck tipover incident, the truck can tip three different directions forward, rearward, and onto its side. Of the 127-tipover incidents, 64 percent involved tipover onto the side of the lift truck, 12 percent were forward tipovers, and 11 percent were rearward tipovers. Those that occurred in an unknown direction accounted for 13 percent of the total incidents. 

Twenty-six of the twenty-nine operators that stayed in the operator s conq>artment during tipover incidents reportedly received minor or no injuries. In three of the incidents the injury severity was imknown. The minor injuries were superficial, i.e., cuts, bruises, and scrapes. Those incidents where the operator did not remain in the operator s compartment accounted for all of the injuries major or fatal. 

Descriptions of the more serious narrow-aisle tipover incidents are identified below. 

Another study of forklift tipover in California showed this incident to be the leading cause of powered industrial truck fatalities from 1966 to 1980. This research revealed that 66 fatalities occurred as a result of tipover. Table 10-4 highlights the data from this study. 

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