To be able to operate any type of lift truck, certain OSHA requirements need to be met. Several businesses offer basic awareness training to other individuals like visitors and office staff or sales people and other non-operators who might venture into the warehouse or yard. Even if OSHA doesn't specifically deal with lift truck pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers must take measures in order to protect employees from certain risks, like pedestrians exposed to lift trucks in motion.
Pedestrian safety is a big issue that has to be addressed and not overlooked. According to the NIOSH or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; roughly 20 percent of all forklift accidents consist of a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic translates to about 19,000 people each year.
In order to keep everyone safe, there are several basic steps which should be taken into account. This is regardless to how briefly or frequently individuals are around industrial trucks in their work day. Among the major considerations is that forklift pedestrian accidents normally occur in situations where the pedestrian is ignorant of safety precautions. Issues also happen more frequently when the pedestrian ends up complacent because she or he has become used to frequent interaction with lift trucks.
There are several common situations to look out for in order to avoid placing yourself at potential risk from being struck by a lift truck. Pedestrians not seeing the forklift is a common problem which needs to be addressed. Numerous operations have different degrees of intersections or blind corners that pedestrians must be aware of. At times pedestrians do not hear the lift truck. Be very careful of the different types of power sources. Like for example, electric trucks may be a lot quieter compared to IC engines which are really loud.
Coming in too near the machinery 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 lift truck that is running, a four foot safety zone is recommended in order to make a safe perimeter for everybody. This really helps to deal with risks such as the unit driving accidentally over the foot of a pedestrian.
Implementing and following strict safety protocol helps to make certain that the workplace safety stays top notch and remains paramount.