Forklift and Pedestrian Safety Articles

Just because you don't drive a forklift, it doesn't mean you don't need to know about forklift safety - in fact, if you are a pedestrian in a warehouse, factory, or lumber yard where forklifts are present, you should be more aware of the dangers than the drivers. You're the one at risk. You can take steps to safeguard yourself and those working around you when forklifts are in your area, or when you are in the forklift's area.

Does your company have clear rules regarding personal communication devices, food, and drink when it comes to forklift safety? If not, then you, as a forklift driver, should set personal standards. Driver distractions lead to thousands of serious forklift accidents every year, sometimes even resulting in fatalities.

Powered industrial equipment has greatly improved productivity in manufacturing, warehouse and distribution operations. Forklifts and hand trucks allow one employee to do the work of several in moving large quantities of materials and handling awkward loads. Storage space usage has improved due to palletizing and the ability to stack materials higher, utilizing more of the storage cube...

Powered industrial trucks present special hazards not normally encountered outside the production facility, warehouse or distribution center. The functions these types of equipment perform are characteristically hazardous activities, let alone the fact that the equipment itself has inherent attributes that make it hazardous to operate...

Forklift accidents account for 61,800 minor injuries, 34,900 serious injuries, and 85 forklift related deaths every year, according to OSHA estimates. With almost 900,000 forklifts in operation at any given time in the Unites State, those numbers amount to a 1 in 10 chance that each forklift working in your facility will be involved in an accident this year. That's not great odds for the safety record at your facility – someone at your facility could be injured this year due to a forklift accident.

Normally, mass x velocity equals momentum – but when we're talking about forklifts, that momentum can quickly turn into accidents. Consider the nature of the typical forklift: extremely heavy, dense in construction, usually carrying additional weight, visibility issues for the driver, and moving in and out of crowded areas stacked higher than the driver's vision range. Kind of sounds like an accident waiting to happen, doesn't it?

You've heard it before, "Boy, that was a near miss!" But when you're around forklifts, you should be thinking, "Boy, that was a near fatality!" because the danger of working around forklifts is so high risk. Reduce that risk by making yourself visible to forklift drivers anytime you're working within their travel zone.