To be able to operate any type 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 forklift pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers should take measures in order to protect employees from certain dangers, such as pedestrians exposed to moving lift trucks.
Pedestrian safety is a huge issue that needs to be addressed and not ignored. Based on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH; roughly 20% of all forklift mishaps include a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic translates to approximately 19,000 people on an annual basis.
In order to keep everybody safe, there are some basic steps which should be taken into account. This is regardless to how frequently or briefly people are around industrial trucks during their work day. Amongst the main factors is that lift truck pedestrian accidents normally happen in cases where the pedestrian is not aware of safety measures. 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 so as to prevent placing yourself at potential risk from being struck by a lift truck. Pedestrians not seeing the lift truck is a common problem which needs to be dealt with. Numerous operations have different degrees of intersections or blind corners that pedestrians need to be aware of. Sometimes pedestrians do not hear the lift truck. Be really careful of the various types of power sources. Like for example, electric trucks could be a lot quieter than IC engines that are super loud.
Coming in too close proximity of the equipment is another common issue for pedestrians. In order for a pedestrian to be injured by a forklift, common sense tells us that the pedestrian needs to be in close proximity to be struck. For a forklift that is working, a four foot safety zone is suggested so as to make a safe perimeter for everybody. This really helps to address risks such as the model driving accidentally over the foot of a pedestrian.
Implementing and following strict safety protocol helps to make sure that the workplace safety remains paramount and stays top notch.