This Fall 1999 IVES Update Newsletter edition covers Dangers in pedestrian safety, accident reports, operator certification materials, OSHA regulations, revised re-certification kit and more!
Dangers in Pedestrian Safety
According to OSHA, the leading cause of powered industrial truck related deaths (24% of total deaths) is due to forklift tip over, with the second highest cause being pedestrians struck by a truck or load. However, when combining all the accidents where a person (pedestrian or otherwise) was struck or pinned by a forklift or load, the total number of deaths mount up to 42%. So you might conclude that one of the most dangerous areas to be, in relation to a forklift, is outside of the truck.
Deaths are just part of the story. For every death, there are approximately 400 injures. Injuries include everything from crushed body parts and internal injuries to broken legs and amputations.
With the serious repercussions of operating a forklift, pedestrian safety should not be taken lightly. A moving lift truck weighs four or five tons and travels at about three times as fast as a person on foot. Due to its weight – especially with a full load – it is nearly impossible for the operator to react in time and stop before he/she encounters a pedestrian.
Here are some of the elements that affect pedestrian safety:
Truck Design: A lift truck’s small wheels, combined with only two braking wheels, do not always allow for a sudden stop. Also, many models have no backup stopping system. Another design feature that can contribute to such incidents is the truck’s counterweight. When a load is lifted with the forks, a heavy weight is on the truck’s backside allows for balance. To the unsuspecting, the truck’s rear-end swing can be quick and unexpected. Consequently, many pedestrians have been pinned between the counterweight and a fixed object.
Poor Vision: A load carried high may block the operator’s vision.In such cases, the operator should drive in reverse.
Unusual Loads: Loads are not always uniform or secure. Long or wide objects, such as pipes or lumber, can easily strike the industrial pedestrian – even one not walking near the lift truck.
Unstable Loads: Unsecured loads are dumped onto pedestrians when a lift truck speeds around a corner or brakes hard to avoid striking them. Speed, coupled with the loose load, usually produces some kind of incident.
Falling Product: A load can fall on someone in the area where a lift truck is operating. People may also walk under raised forks, rather than stay clear of the load that is being raised or lowered. In such situations, operator error or vehicle failure can result in serious injury or death. In addition, an operator may inadvertently push a load off a high section of racking.
Attitudes and Perceptions
Attitudes and perceptions are key to pedestrian safety. A recent study at one employer’s facility revealed that…
- Operators felt employees acted dangerously when walking in the aisle. They didn’t heed horns, stepped into aisles or crossed in front of trucks. They believed employees failed to take the presence of lift trucks seriously and, therefore, were responsible if struck or injured.
- Employees believe the opposite. Operators drove too fast, did not use their horns to warn, and disregarded stop signs and blind corners. Some employees believed certain operators were aiming for them.
Pedestrians have the right-of-way, but this does not mean they can disregard hazards. Operators cannot stop quickly and their field of vision may be limited by the load being carried or the mast design. Therefore, both parties must respect the others position. Such awareness is developed via training and enforcement.
Safeguards
Key safeguards include…
- Alarms: Install backup alarms on counterbalanced trucks.
- Mirrors: Placed strategically throughout the plant, mirrors can help operators and pedestrians.
- Signage and Protective Barriers: Pedestrians often use the same walking and driving areas. If roadways are designed to accommodate forklifts, separate walkways should be erected to protect those on foot.
- Lighting: Parking lots and other outside areas of travel require specific lighting as well.
- Forklift Horn: Operators should use horns only when necessary to warn, not startle employees. Most effective when used at appropriate times. Overuse can cause workers to ignore the warning.
- Employee Training: OSHA’s new standard requires pedestrian awareness training. Clearly, the high number of fatalities and injuries each year indicates that such training is necessary.
Action Steps
Ensure that you conduct pedestrian awareness training, not just to your operators but to all employees who may walk near a lift truck. The most effective means of communicating the importance of pedestrian safety can be done with a Pedestrian Video. Ives offers three pedestrian videos:
- The Danger Zone – 17 minute video includes Instructor Notes, Accident/Near-miss Report Forms, Pedestrian Reference Guide, Forklift Operator Reference Guide, Safety Evaluation Forms for pedestrians and operators, Caution Signs and a Safety Poster.
- Field of Vision – 12 minute video addresses the visibility problems inherent to fork trucks. A must see!
- Lessons Learned – 12 minutes. This case study of an accident speaks to the heart asking viewers not to learn this tragic lesson the hard way.
Accident Reports
Employee Struck By Forklift
A clerk in a marine terminal was walking on the wharf alongside a container top lift machine. A forklift truck, with a squeeze attachment carrying two rolls of paper, was traveling in the same direction as the clerk. The forklift truck continued forward with the load approximately 11 inches higher than the steering wheel and obstructing the driver’s forward view. He struck and crushed the clerk beneath the load.
Forklift Tip-over
While an employee was operating a forklift, the forklift tipped over while the operator was apparently making a sharp turn at excessive speed. No seat belt was installed and when the employee fell from the seat he was crushed by the rollover bar.
Fall From Platform On Forklift
An employee was standing on an unsecured pallet resting on the frame of a forklift, which the forklift operator raised to approximately 6 feet high. The operator left the forklift unattended while the employee on the pallet poured spice into a mixing tank. When the operator returned, he found the victim pinned between the mast and the frame of the forklift.
Crushed By Forklift
Victim was driving a stand-up forklift into a tractor-trailer to start unloading when the truck driver pulled away from the dock. The forklift fell back onto the forklift driver, striking his head and breaking his neck.
Forklift Top-over
An employee was given instructions to take the forklift to unload a truck. The employee picked up the forklift located on the premises less than one half mile from where the accident occurred. Traveling down an incline, the employee attempted to make a left turn into a parking lot, struck a pothole in the road, and the forklift began to tip over to the right. The employee attempted to jump clear of the forklift, but was struck and killed as the forklift fell.
Struck By Forklift
A forklift operator was en route to a dumpster located in the remote southeast section of the outside material storage area. He was utilizing a forklift rated at 4,500 lbs. a metal dump hopper, equipped with a manual dump release handle, was attached to the forks of the forklift. The hopper was filled with scrap shingles. The victim positioned the load above the north side of the dumpster. he dismounted from the right side of the forklift, closest to the north wall of the dumpster, and tripped the dump handle of the hopper. As he dismounted, he failed to set the parking brake. As the load suddenly dropped, the forklift jerked, causing the transmission, low on fluid, to slip into drive, and causing the right rear side of the forklift to travel toward the dumpster, pinning the victim against the north wall of the dumpster. A crushing chest injury resulted. The primary cause of the accident was that the employee failed to set the parking brake prior to dismounting the powered forklift.
Struck By Load Topping From Forklift
A longshoreman was crushed when he was struck by a toppling load of fiber-board. This cargo had just been off-loaded from a ship and was on the dock awaiting transfer by forklift to an adjacent warehouse. The forklift operator intended to pick up a stack of three crates. The width of the crates had changed from previous loads to a more narrow gauge. The forklift operator did not realize he was dealing with a narrower cargo which allowed his forks to extend beyond the cargo’s base. The forks extended some 10 inches under the base of the adjacent stack of three crates which was 31 inches wide. when the operator raised his forks he not only picked up his intended load, but caused the adjacent stack of crates to topple onto the nearby longshoreman.
Ives’ OSHA-Compliant, Lift Truck Operator Certification Program Materials Are Now Available To All Qualified Instructors
Due to recent revisions to OSHA regulations, 39 CFR 1910.178 (l0) powered industrial truck operator training, released in December 1998, Ives is now offering our OSHA-Compliant, Lift Truck Operator Certification program to all qualified instructors, not just those instructors trained and certified through an Ives program.
Previous OSHA regulations simply required that the operator be adequately trained. To ensure that the Operator Certification Program was delivered correctly and that the operator was adequately trained, Ives instituted a policy of not allowing non-Ives Certified Instructors to purchase the training materials. This policy was the only method of ensuring that only qualified trainers delivered the program and that it was done correctly.
Today, this policy of ensuring only qualified trainers deliver operator training is now covered under OSHA’s new law. The regulation states that operator training should be conducted by “persons with the training, knowledge, and experience to train powered industrial truck operators and evaluate their competence.” Because of this new law, Ives no longer has to regulate the dissemination of their Operator Certification Program materials. Any qualifies trainer can now obtain Ives’ nationally-recognized, OSHA-compliant, training and certification program materials.
Meet new OSHA regulations with Ives’ renowned OSHA-Compliance Package: Forklift Operator Certification
Since 1981, Ives’ OSHA-Compliant Operator Certification materials have received consistent words of praise from thousands of instructors across the nation. Common comments have been… “I’ve compared your programs to other ones on the market; and yours is still the best.” With comments like these, it is hard to imagine that we could improve on perfection – but we have.
We’ve reworked, revised, revamped and redesigned our Forklift Operator Certification Kit into a brand new and improved OSHA-Compliance Package. This new package includes…
- A 72 page, self paced workbook, which allowed operator-trainees to learn the required safety theory at their own speed. The content, similar to the previous version, addresses all the necessary subject matter as required by the revised OSHA 1910.178(l).
- A certification Folder, complete with Final Theory Tests, Final Practical Evaluation Forms, full sized Certificate of Completion, Wallet sized certification card, and a record sheet, together with a handy folder for storing this required documentation.
- And a Trainer’s Guide, complete with the answer key, provides the qualified trainer with instructions on conducting classroom and hands-on training, as required by the regulations. Note: Ives’ Certified Instructors do not need this Trainer’s Guide as the subject matter is covered in their Instructor’s Manual. This Trainer’s Guide is a one time purchase item and is therefore sold separately for a price of only $18.76.
The self paced operator workbook and certification folder are valued at $29.85. Ives Certified Instructors get an automatic 15% discount. This translates into only $25.37; that’s only 84 cents above the previous costs and you get a lot more for your money. Additional discounts are available on bulk orders, starting in quantities in excess of 26 packages.
If you want the new OSHA-Compliance Package please call us.
Revised Operator Re-certification Kit
We have also redesigned our Re-certification Kit. It is now combined into a notepad, which allows a qualified instructor to re-certify up to 8 previously trained operators. The Notepad includes 8 sets of Theory Tests, Practical Evaluation Forms, Record Sheets, Full-sized Certificates, and 8 wallet sized Certification Cards. The cost of the notepad is $29.80; this works out to a per operator cost of less than $4 – that’s significantly lower cost than the old re-certification kits and you get more for your money. But that’s not all – you also get your 15% Ives Certified Instructor discount!
Also available with this Re-Certification Notepad is an Evaluator's Guide, complete with instructions and answer key. Ives’ Certified Instructors do not need this Evaluator's Guide as this content is covered int their Instructor’s Manual. The Evaluator's Guide is a one time purchase item and is available for $8.65.
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