Don’t Let A Fork Lift Truck Skewer Your Company.

Don’t Let A Fork Lift Truck Skewer Your Company.
Like so many things, pedestrian and lift truck lane markings become part of the background scenery in most plants: They’re visible but no one really notices them any more. Now, there’s a better way to avoid costly accidents.
– By Isaac Rudik

It doesn’t take much of an accident for a fork lift truck to cause serious injury.

Not long ago, an Ontario woman was severely injured at work when the company’s fork lift swung around suddenly and hit her in the middle of her chest. She was spun around by the impact of the truck and sent flying several feet across the plant. The woman was rushed to hospital for emergency, life saving, surgery. Fortunately, she recovered fully from the accident and was able to return to work within six months.

Also fortunate is that the fork lift was carrying only an empty plastic container. Had the load been any larger or heavier, doctors say that most likely the woman would have been killed instantly.
The accident happened even though the area where she was working had been marked with designated forklift and pedestrian lanes. But like so many things in life, the markings became part of the background scenery in the plant: Yes, they were there but no one really noticed them any more.

Visible – But Invisible

The accident was costly to the company. Not only was the injured employee on Worker Compensation for a half-year, the poor operator was so distraught by causing the accident he was unable to work for two months. But the combined eight months of Worker Comp claims was only a small part of the financial cost to the company. A steep fine was levied by the province and a court awarded hefty damages to both the woman and the fork lift driver.

The accident highlights a major shortcoming of using hanging signs and floor lane markings to create safety zones: They rely almost entirely on a fork lift driver being able to see not only the signage but whether someone has wandered in front of the vehicle. Too often, accidents happen because a large load is being moved and the driver’s view is at least partially blocked. Thus, it’s frequently impossible for the operator to know whether a worker has wandered out of the pedestrian lane – or whether the truck has strayed into the lane.

In effect, the very tools used to ensure safety become their own hazard. Even though they’re visible, they can become invisible for a split second, more than enough time for a serious accident to occur.

Moreover, the layout of far too many factories does not take driver visibility into account. Blind corners, a flash of blinding sunlight from a window, a burned out lighting fixture all can make it difficult, if not impossible, for the operator to spot pedestrians crossing the plant floor. Even worse, the recession means most businesses are pushing all-out for productivity, efficiency and speed but these very factors can result in carelessness and not paying attention.

Government regulations mandate that companies take adequate precautions to ensure worker safety. When first introduced decades ago, rules requiring lane markings on a plant floor and posting signs were more than adequate: They were a significant improvement over the era of having no markings and they were the best warning available.

Intelligent Signage

But, thanks to inexpensive new technology, there is a better way to protect workers and help ensure that a fork lift truck out in the plant doesn’t end up skewering an employee or the company.

Now there are traffic signs which sense approaching vehicles and whether people are walking into the path of the fork lift. Once a person is detected, an audio as well as a visual alert is sent out so both know the other is approaching well before they are seen. This greatly increases the ability to avoid an accident. Moreover, unlike signs, the 95db audible alert coupled with a flashing light will never become “just part of the scenery” on a factory floor.

Low cost technology removes the excuse companies have used for some time to prevent accidents. And prevention is always the least costly way of avoiding a lot of needless expense and hassle. Implementing the new generation of warnings now will help ensure that no uncontrollable incident will happen.




Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.

E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.