Forklift Safety: A Lifesaving Guide
SAFETY FEATURES OF FORKLIFTS
Although you might think that driving a car would prepare you to operate a
forklift, they do not work in the same way. In most automobiles the front
wheels provide steering, but in a forklift the steering is done by the rear
wheels. This allows the front end to be used to carry the load, but requires
room for the rear of the forklift to swing around to make turns. Forklifts are
also not as quick to respond to your actions as the operator as cars. Stopping
quickly and swerving are hard to do without losing control of the forklift. The
same is true of driving downhill with a load, it is very easy to lose control on
inclines. In order to minimize risks you should always keep the load on the
uphill side, which requires the operator to drive in reverse, sometimes for long
stretches.
Forklifts are equipped with rear extensions to keep the load from falling on to
the operator. These extensions are required any time loads are lifted high and
could fall to the rear when driving on uneven surfaces or in the case of
acceleration or sudden stops. Forklifts that can be used to lift loads over the
operator are also required to have an overhead guard. These guards are
meant to protect the operator from small packages being dropped but are not
effective against the loss of a full load.
Restraints for operators are standard requirements for all forklifts built since
1992. Those that were made prior to 1992 can often be retrofitted with
operator restraints. As a forklift operator it is important to always use the
restraint because it can prevent you from being thrown out of the protective
cage should your forklift overturn. Many fatalities occur because operators
attempt to jump from the machine when it overturns. The nature of forklifts
caused them to at first turn very slowly, then the center of gravity shifts and
the turn speeds up rapidly. The slow turn gives operators the false sense that
they have time to jump out, when in reality they do not.
There are other safety features that include a horn, to indicate when a forklift
is coming through an intersection or when the operators vision is obscured.
They also have backup alarms that will sound whenever the forklift operates
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