To be able to utilize any kind of forklift, certain OSHA requirements need to be met. Several businesses provide basic awareness training to other individuals such as visitors and office employees or sales people and other non-operators who might venture into the yard or warehouse. Though OSHA doesn't particularly deal with lift truck pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers should take measures so as to protect employees from some risks, like for instance pedestrians exposed to moving lift trucks.
A big concern that would need to be dealt with is pedestrian safety. According to the NIOSH or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; about 20% of all forklift accidents comprise a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic translates to about 19,000 individuals on a yearly basis.
In order to keep everyone safe, there are some basic steps that should be taken into consideration. This is regardless to how frequently or briefly people are around industrial trucks in their work day. One of the main factors is that forklift pedestrian accidents normally happen in situations where the pedestrian is not aware of safety precautions. Issues also happen more frequently when the pedestrian has become used to frequent interaction with forklifts and ends up complacent.
There are several 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 needs to be dealt with. A lot operations have various degrees of intersections or blind corners which pedestrians must be aware of. At times pedestrians do not hear the lift truck. Be careful of the various kinds of power sources. Like for example, electric trucks may be much quieter as opposed to internal combustion engines that are super loud.
Coming in too near the machinery is another common concern for pedestrians. In order for a pedestrian to be injured by a forklift, common sense tells us that the pedestrian needs to be near to be struck. For a lift truck which is running, a four foot safety zone is suggested in order to make a safe perimeter for everybody. This helps to deal with risks like the model driving accidentally over the foot of a pedestrian.
To make sure that the workplace safety remains paramount and stays top notch, following and the implementation of strict safety protocol is important.