George Swartz - Forklift Safety: A Practical Guide to Preventing Powered Industrial Truck Incidents and Injuries

Second Edition

A Practical Guide
to Preventing
Powered Industrial Truck
Incidents and Injuries

George Swartz, CSP

Published in the United States of America
by Government Institutes, an imprint of The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright 1999 by Government Institutes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The reader should not rely on this publication to address specific questions that apply to a particular set of facts. The author and the publisher make no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the completeness, correctness, or utility of the information in this publication. In addition, the author and the publisher assume no liability of any kind whatsoever resulting from the use of or reliance upon the contents of this book.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Swartz, George.

Forklift safety: a practical guide to preventing powered industrial truck incidents and injuries / by George Swartz.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 13: 978-0-86587-663-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 10: 0-86587-663-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Fork lift trucksSafety measures. 2. Materials handlingSafety measures. I. Title.

TL296.S93 1999

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated
to Frank Cava, former Vice President of Personnel at Pittsburgh Bridge and Iron Works,
for starting me in this career many years ago, and
to my daughter, Laura, and my son, Eric.

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX D

This is the most comprehensive book ever written on this important workplace operation. I wish I had this resource when I was a practicing plant safety director. This book is a must for those safety and health professionals working in manufacturing, distribution, or warehousing. It is also must reading for non-safety professionals, managers, and supervisors responsible for powered industrial truck (PIT) operations. This is not an academic dissertation on the issue, but rather a hands-on pragmatic approach to what needs to be done when operations include PIT.

Mr. Swartz rightly points out in that management is responsible and accountable for safe operations. The loss of life, serious injury, and illness caused by operating powered industrial trucks are tragedies because they are preventable. In addition, the risk potential for damage or destroying property, material, and product is enormouscompanies have gone out of business as a result of catastrophic losses due to unsafe operation of powered industrial trucks.

It is critical and good business to reduce or eliminate losses. In the event the government regulatory climate heats up and a PIT regulation is promulgated, serious application of this book will provide your PIT operations with a program which will put you in compliance with most, if not all, provisions that would be included in a regulation. Mr. Swartz has provided the reader with a chapter-by-chapter, step-by-step, cookbook resource which covers the essential elements of a powered industrial truck program, which, if applied properly, will reduce death, injuries, workers compensation, and property damage.

Many safety and health professionals are focused on carpal tunnel syndrome and bloodborne pathogens risks, and rightly so. However, we need to balance our approach and time working on various workplace risks. I would suggest that you review the incident data in and also review your own workplace data and exposure to PIT risks. Most companies will find a compelling reason to apply the PIT principles and best practices Mr. Swartz has compiled in this valuable resource.

Jerry Scannell

President

National Safety Council

Forklift Safety was prepared to assist in the reduction of injuries and incidents associated with powered industrial trucks. The need for improved forklift safety, and safety with other equipment, has never been greater. OSHA statistics indicate that there are approximately 101 workers killed each year as a result of powered industrial truck incidents. Similar events and incidents throughout Canada also take their annual toll of life and limb.

In this second edition, many new sources of information have been added. The new OSHA operator training standard, which became effective on December 1, 1998 is highlighted in , more information on carbon monoxide has been provided as a result of recommendations from readers on this subject.

It is not unusual to read a local newspaper in which the sad details of an industrial forklift incident are highlighted. A few of these descriptive accidents help tell the story: Worker Killed in Freak Accident; Falling Crate Kills Man in Malton Warehouse; Oshawa Youth Injured in Forklift Accident; Forklift Truck Skids Off a Loading Dock; Maintenance Worker Falls from Forks of Lift Truck; Bay State Man Dead in Forklift Accident; Freak Accident Claims Driver; Airline Cited for Forklift Accident; Propane Explosions Rock Industrial Park. This list grows daily.

Safety experts agree that when proper safety training and enforcement are used, injuries and incidents decline. This same principle holds true for lift trucks. Many organizations do not properly train operators. Statistics from the workplace are evidence of this laxity of enforcementmany thousands of injuries and millions of dollars in losses are caused by forklift operators who have been improperly trained.

How to safely operate powered equipment is a broad and specialized subject. A skilled operator has to know and understand many rules and guidelines. This book contains a wide range of information, which can be used to improve operator skills and overall forklift safety. Forklift Safety was written as a training and information guide; it provides a checklist approach to powered truck safety. The reader is provided with chapters on why training is important, how lift trucks work, dock safety, PPE, health issues, inspection processes, rodeos and rallies, powered hand trucks, job hazard analysis, injury investigation, and more. The fifteen chapters are well documented and provide a variety of forms, tables, figures, and illustrations to assist the reader. To identify some of the real hazards in the workplace, many chapters contain Injury or Incident Facts, which provide a brief synopsis of actual events.