To be able to utilize any kind of lift truck, specific OSHA requirements have to be met. Some businesses provide basic awareness training to other individuals like visitors and office staff or sales people and other non-operators who might venture into the yard or warehouse. Though OSHA doesn't specifically deal with forklift pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers must take measures so as to protect employees from certain dangers, such as pedestrians exposed to moving lift trucks.
A huge problem which would have to be addressed is pedestrian safety. Based on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH; approximately 20% of all forklift accidents include a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic means about 19,000 people on an annual basis.
So as to keep everyone safe, there are several basic steps which should be taken into account. This is regardless to how frequently or briefly individuals are around industrial trucks during their work day. One of the main factors is that forklift pedestrian mishaps usually occur in cases where the pedestrian is ignorant 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 several common situations to look out for in order to prevent placing yourself at possible risk from being struck by a lift truck. Pedestrians not seeing the lift truck is a common issue which has to be addressed. Numerous operations have different degrees of blind corners or intersections which pedestrians have to know. Sometimes pedestrians do not hear the forklift. Be really careful of the various kinds of power sources. For instance, electric trucks could be much quieter than IC engines which are super loud.
The other main issues are when pedestrians come in too close proximity of the machinery. Common sense tells us that in order for a pedestrian to be injured by a lift truck, the pedestrian has to be in close enough proximity 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 a pedestrian's foot.
Following and implementing strict safety protocol helps to make sure that the workplace safety remains paramount and stays top notch.