04 Dec Thinking About Forklift Safety
Forklifts improve production in the warehouse or yard—one employee can do the work of several; heavy, awkward loads are moved by a forklift with ease. But production should never come at the cost to safety. A forklift’s sheer size and weight makes a forklift accident potentially life-threatening. No, forklifts don’t operate at break neck speeds, but are very powerful machines, and a possible danger to all the other employees working around one.
The Folks on the Ground
While the person operating the forklift does need training and experience to keep him or herself safe, the people who work on the ground, other employees or customers and pedestrians, are also in danger. Employees not trained to operate forklifts should still have some training as to how to stay safe around them. Pedestrians and customers to the warehouse or yard should be made aware of the traffic zones. Signs strategically positioned throughout a warehouse or yard make unsuspecting and untrained persons more keenly aware of forklift traffic. Think big bright signs hung at eye level. A forklift operator should be aware of the paths that pedestrians or customers may be travelling throughout the warehouse or yard. It’s also possible that a forklift operator’s line of sight be obscured by his or her load. Knowing the routes people travel throughout a warehouse, but also having navigational help from other trained employees, cuts down on the inherent danger of accidents.
Regular Equipment Inspections
Equipment inspections should be performed regularly. A poorly operating machine can be a machine that breaks down at an inopportune time. A poorly operating machine is also an unpredictable machine, and an unpredictable machine could become a dangerous machine. Daily, make sure that everything on the forklift is in working order. Make sure that the machine is not leaking fluid—if there are leaks then get the machine fixed before you use it for work. Check the lights and the signals, check the machine’s lift controls and make sure that all safety devices such as mirrors and fire extinguishers are in place.
These are only a few of the ways in which people can stay around a forklift. If you have any other questions, then call Anderson Forklift today.
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