In order to operate any type of forklift, certain OSHA requirements have to be met. Several businesses provide basic awareness training to other individuals such as visitors and office staff or sales people and other non-operators who may venture into the warehouse or yard. Though OSHA doesn't particularly deal with forklift pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers must take measures so as to protect employees from certain risks, such as pedestrians exposed to moving lift trucks.
A big problem that will have to be addressed is pedestrian safety. Based on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH; around 20 percent of all forklift mishaps consist of a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic means around 19,000 individuals each and every year.
However briefly or frequently individuals are around industrial trucks during their work day, there are several basic steps which must be taken so as to keep everybody safe. Amongst the main considerations is that forklift pedestrian accidents often occur in cases where the pedestrian is not aware of safety precautions. Issues also happen more often when the pedestrian has become used to frequent interaction with forklifts and ends up complacent.
There are some common situations to look out for in order to avoid placing yourself at possible risk from being struck by a forklift. Pedestrians not seeing the forklift is a common problem that has to be addressed. Numerous operations have various degrees of intersections or blind corners that pedestrians have to know. At times pedestrians do not hear the lift truck. Be careful of the different kinds of power sources. Like for example, electric trucks may be a lot quieter than internal combustion engines that are really loud.
Coming in too near the equipment is another common problem for pedestrians. In order for a pedestrian to be injured by a lift truck, common sense tells us that the pedestrian has to be near to be struck. For a forklift that is working, a four foot safety zone is recommended in order to make a safe perimeter for everybody. This helps to address risks like for example the model driving accidentally over a pedestrian's foot.
Implementing and following strict safety protocol helps to make certain that the workplace safety stays top notch and remains paramount.