What’s wrong with this picture?
Forklift Operation: 3 Reasons to Pay Attention
- Roughly 100 U.S. workers die in forklift accidents each year
- Roughly 36,340 workers suffer serious injuries as a result of such accidents over that same one year
- At least 20% to 25% of these accidents occur because the forklift operator wasn’t adequately trained
12 Areas You Need to Be Trained in to Operate a Forklift:
According to OSHA, you may not operate a forklift—or, as it’s technically referred to “powered industrial truck” (PIT)—unless and until you get training on these 11 topics:
1. Operating instructions, warnings and precautions relating to the particular type of PIT you’re allowed to operate.
2. Differences between the PIT and a car
3. Where the PIT’s controls and instruments are located, what they do and how they work
4. How the PIT’s engine/motor operates
5. How to steer and maneuver the PIT
6. Visibility, i.e., the importance of being able to see where you drive both forward and reverse and with and without a load (a lesson that obviously failed to sink in with the worker in the above photo).
7. Fork and attachment adaptation, operation and use limits
8. The PIT’s capacity, i.e., what it can/can’t do and safely carry
9. The PIT’s stability, i.e., how it can flip over and ensure that it doesn’t
10. Any inspection or maintenance on the vehicle that you’re expected to perform
11. Refueling and/or charging and recharging batteries safely
12. Operating limitations, e.g., how fast the PIT can go, what kinds of surfaces you can and can’t use it on, etc.
8 FORKLIFT DRIVING DO’s & DON’Ts
There are 8 things to do/not do when operating a forklift
- DO turn off the engine before refueling the forklift
- DON’T ever operate a forklift if you don’t have the proper training—EVER
- DO look in the direction you’re travelling at all times
- DON’T carry others as passengers or use the forklift to lift a pallet while somebody’s standing on it
- DO conduct a visual inspection of the forklift at the start of your shift before you use it
- DON’T try to move loads that weigh more than the forklift’s safe lifting capacity
- DO place forks under the load as far as possible
- DON’T park a forklift on an incline unless the wheels are safely blocked
