In order to operate any type of lift truck, certain OSHA requirements have to be met. Several businesses provide basic awareness training to other people such as visitors and office employees or sales people and other non-operators who may venture into the warehouse or yard. Even though OSHA doesn't specifically deal with forklift pedestrian training, the OSHA General Duty Clause dictates that employers should take measures in order to protect employees from certain dangers, like for example pedestrians exposed to lift trucks in motion.
A big concern which will have to be addressed is pedestrian safety. According to the NIOSH or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; approximately 20% of all forklift mishaps consist of a pedestrian being struck by a forklift. This statistic translates to around 19,000 people each and every year.
In order to keep everybody 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 during their work day. One of the major factors is that lift truck pedestrian mishaps normally happen in situations where the pedestrian is ignorant of safety precautions. Problems also occur more often when the pedestrian has become used to frequent interaction with forklifts and ends up complacent.
There are some common situations to look out for in order to prevent placing yourself at possible risk from being struck by a forklift. Pedestrians not seeing the forklift is a common issue that needs to be dealt with. Lots of operations have different degrees of intersections or blind corners that pedestrians have to be aware of. At times pedestrians do not hear the lift truck. Be careful of the various kinds of power sources. Like for instance, electric trucks can be much quieter compared to IC engines that are really loud.
The other major issues are when pedestrians come in too close proximity of the equipment. Common sense tells us that in order for a pedestrian to be injured by a lift truck, the pedestrian needs to be near to be struck. For a lift truck that is working, a four foot safety zone is recommended so as to make a safe perimeter for everyone. This helps to address risks like for example the model accidentally driving 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.