Top 5 Forklift Safety Rules
Warehouse incidents are unfortunately all too common. They can be fatal when teams don’t follow important safety rules that are specifically designed to prevent such accidents. Besides being fatal or very severe, forklift accidents can cause warehouse and/or inventory damage and expensive warehouse downtime. These accidents are entirely avoidable. It's the responsibility of both the employer and employee to stay up to date on forklift safety rules to prevent forklift accidents. But where do you start? And how do companies implement advanced safety features to ensure a safe and smoothly-running warehouse?
Forklift manuals and OSHA regulations have forklift safety measures and regulations, and it’s often required that employees take refresher safety courses every so often. As the most trusted name in warehouse forklift driver safety software, we at ELOKON have top five forklift safety rules that we recommend following. Below we’ll describe these forklift system safety rules and provide expert suggestions for avoiding forklift accidents. We’ll also recommend what forklift services we have at ELOKON that can further improve the safety of your warehouse, pedestrians, and forklift drivers.
Forklift System Safety Rules
At ELOKON, we recommend these top five forklift system safety rules to avoid forklift accidents. On top of OSHA, company, and equipment regulations, these forklift system safety rules can improve the safety of your warehouse.
1. Stay Current on Forklift Training and Certification
Following OSHA forklift standards or your specific governmental safety standards is a must. Finding and completing forklift training is required to be licensed to operate forklifts. Employees need to be current in their forklift training and certifications so they know the latest forklift system safety rules for operating forklifts. Earning external forklift safety certifications can further improve warehouse safety.
2. Follow Pre-Operational Checklists
Pre-operational inspections ensure that all equipment is ready to be used. Pre-operational inspection requirements differ among different types of equipment, so it’s important to use checklists that are specific to forklifts for maximal forklift safety. Specific forklift checklists help employees confirm that their forklifts are ready for the warehouse floor. Pre-operational checklists also help identify any maintenance needed or issues with the forklifts before the drivers operate them.
3. Follow Forklift Load Capacity
Being aware of the hazards of forklift operation ensures that safety stays a number one priority. It’s important to know the capacity and intended purpose of all forklifts in the warehouse so that your team uses the right forklift for a task. Otherwise, forklifts can lose their balance, resulting in severe or even fatal accidents.
4. Implement Safe Operation Procedures
Updating forklift fleet management systems can help ensure safe operational procedures and keep warehouse workers safe. Updated forklift fleet management systems can accurately alert forklift operators and supervisors if certain forklifts need maintenance. This adds another layer of safety in the warehouse.
5. Improve Pedestrian Safety
The last of our recommendations is to improve pedestrian safety throughout the warehouse. Although the forklift operator is primarily responsible for forklift safety, warehouse pedestrians can still be aware of oncoming forklift traffic. Warehouses can utilize our ELOshield proximity detection system that alerts both forklift drivers and pedestrians of possible collisions. Improving pedestrian safety with state-of-the-art technology makes the warehouse function more smoothly and safely.
Following government safety regulations, company policies, and other safety tips keeps employees safe and warehouses running smoothly. At ELOKON, we prioritize worker safety and recommend reviewing critical safety information. With these forklift safety tips in mind, let’s explore the importance of avoiding forklift accidents.
Importance of Avoiding Forklift Accidents
Although it may seem obvious, it’s helpful to stress the importance of avoiding forklift accidents since they can be very serious, even fatal. Besides worker injury and death, accidents also cause downtime in the warehouse which can affect coworkers, deadlines, and value. Forklift accidents disrupt the warehouse workflow, which is difficult to recover. Nevertheless, forklift accidents are preventable, especially with state-of-the-art forklift services available at ELOKON.
Forklift Services at ELOKON
Our team at ELOKON has designed a full suite of safety systems to protect forklift operators and warehouse pedestrians. Our forklift services include a number of solutions to keep your warehouse safe. Our solutions also streamline cloud-based forklift fleet management so fleet data is as accurate as possible.
Warehouses can see a flurry of activity. Between forklift operators pulling and storing inventory and warehouse pedestrians working hard, employees are very busy and focused on their specific tasks. No matter how well-trained employees may be on forklift safety, forklift accidents and collisions can occur. That’s why at ELOKON we’ve designed our solution portfolio that include forklift impact sensors, smart forklift technology, and forklift safety and fleet management software.
Applications of our solution portfolio include tablet and smartphone compatibility. Our safety features include ELOshield – which incorporates ELOshieldGO, ELOshieldDRIVE, ELOshieldZONE, ELOshieldSPEED – and ELOfleet. These applications significantly improve warehouse and employee safety. Depending on the safety systems that your warehouse implements, your warehouse can have mobile vehicle access control, mobile electronic safety checklists, mobile forklift status monitoring, web-based key fleet metrics, and web-based multi-site analysis.
These systems provide wireless infrastructure and safety applications to increase warehouse and worker safety and prevent forklift collisions. This modernizes the warehouse by adding an extra layer of safety features. At ELOKON, your company can find comprehensive safety solutions to prevent forklift collisions and increase warehouse safety. From safety system design to installation, your team can count on ELOKON.
Improve Safety with ELOKON
At ELOKON, we’re dedicated to developing effective automated safety systems for forklifts and other material-handling equipment. Our smart solutions protect forklift operators and warehouse pedestrians all over the business environment. From warehouse logistics to any one of our ELO-safety driver assistance technology, we at ELOKON take improving warehouse safety seriously. Contact us today to find out how we can help improve worker safety at your company.