Equipment Safety Systems
Forklifts are necessary tools for any material handling team–without them, companies simply couldn't meet the demands of the modern world. However, while necessary, forklifts are inherently hazardous to employees–pedestrians and drivers. Without the right education and forklift equipment safety systems in place, companies can be liable for devastating accidents and deaths. That's why it's important to invest in solutions to mitigate forklift-related accidents, from comprehensive training to automated safety and driver assistance systems.
Here, we'll explore the forklift equipment safety systems that material handling teams are implementing to improve forklift safety, taking a deep dive into effective safety products. But first, we'll take a look at forklift safety topics that your team can discuss to jump-start its journey to a more secure warehouse. These discussions can reinforce best practices and set the foundation for integrating the right safety solutions into your operations.
Forklift Safety Topics
There are many forklift safety topics to cover, so here, we'll highlight a few that we think are critical to a smarter and safer warehouse. From forklift training to developing fleet maintenance schedules, there is always room for improving safety procedures around the warehouse. Revisiting this short list of topics can serve as inspiration to reiterate precautions already in place and implement additional safety measures.
Training and Certification
Forklift training and certification are key forklift safety topics to revisit with your team. Forklift drivers must be trained and certified before operating a vehicle. While companies are responsible for developing their own training and certification courses, including hands-on experience, OSHA offers guidelines for what to incorporate in a training program. Training and certification are the first steps a team can take to enhance the safety of its employees.
Identify and Assess Warehouse Hazards
The second of our forklift safety topics includes identifying and assessing warehouse hazards. It's important to recognize what can lead to forklift-related collisions, such as high-traffic areas, areas of low visibility, and areas with differing forklift speed allowances. Doing so can help your team find forklift equipment safety systems that eliminate these warehouse hazards and decrease the chances of a collision occurring.
Develop and Stick to Fleet Maintenance Schedules
Regularly assessing and maintaining your forklift fleet can catch issues before they lead to unplanned downtime and severe collisions. Developing and sticking to fleet maintenance schedules is important to keeping your fleet ready to operate and safe for employees. Since forklift equipment safety systems exist to streamline fleet management, neglecting regular maintenance is simply not an option–we'll explore a viable fleet management tool soon!
Implement Automated Safety Systems
The last safety topic we'll cover here is implementing automated safety systems. While passive safety systems merely warn employees of possible collision risks, automated safety systems actively prevent collisions before they happen. This is possible through proximity detection and automatic speed control without reliance on human intervention. These forklift equipment safety systems are powerful solutions and add an extra layer of safety to modern warehouse operations.
It is important to revisit these safety topics to ensure that your team employs the latest and most effective solutions. Keeping current with developments in safety tech can mean the difference between an avoided collision and a deadly one. Next, we'll take a look at improving forklift safety, beginning with forklift fleet management.
Improving Forklift Safety–Starting With Fleet Management
Our experts at ELOKON believe that enhancing warehouse safety starts with MHE fleet management. Our ELOfleet solution is the world's first cloud-based smart forklift fleet management solution, making it easier and more accessible than ever. The smartphone app facilitates customizable pre-op checklists and RFID driver sign-on. The web-based dashboard displays valuable fleet KPIs like impacts, productivity, and maintenance schedules so your team can work on improving forklift safety where possible.
ELOfleet is a cost-effective solution for fleet management, even for mixed fleets and fleets across different worksites. The smartphone app and web-based dashboard work together to simplify fleet operations and data, which helps your team cut costs without sacrificing team safety. ELOfleet Smart is our comprehensive solution for improving forklift safety through fleet management. ELOfleet Sprint is our solution that's even more streamlined and designed to safeguard your team as soon as possible. Both tools are effective for optimizing fleet management.
Improving forklift safety shouldn't be tricky if the right forklift equipment safety systems are implemented, including fleet management systems. Now, we'll explore forklift safety products that actively prevent forklift-related collisions through proximity detection and automated speed control.