Forklift manufacturers, suppliers and repair in the United States
The Quartermaster Branch Safety Office has been collecting accident information for the past 11 fiscal years (FY85-95) on forklift accidents. Data include all recordable military and Army civilian employee reports available from the US Army Safety Center, Fort Rucker, AL. Also, hundreds of officers and enlisted personnel were interviewed. The results were informative and surprising.
Accidents for FY85-95 totaled 1,005, with 17 fatalities and 16 permanent total/partial disabilities, more than $5.6 million in personal injury costs and more than $2.8 million in damages to equipment and other property. Equipment damage costs are recorded only when damage exceeds $2,000. Injury costs are recorded if the individual loses 24 hours of time because of the accident. (Note: In FY87 most Army civilian employee accidents began to be reported to the Department of Labor instead of the US Army Safety Center. This resulted in a major decline of Army civilian employee accident information. Also, the reportable dollar value of an accident was raised, again reducing the number of accidents reportable to the US Army Safety Center.)
What became clear from the forklift safety study was the magnitude of the lack of training of Army military and civilian operators and a lack of enforcement of standards by unit supervisors. Operator accidents account for 68 percent of all types of forklift accidents. A review of the 1,005 forklift accidents identified the following as the most common types:
Operator/Material Handling - an accident involving the forklift and personnel during the loading, unloading or hauling of material. Equipment damage and personal injury most likely to occur.
Operator/Misjudged Clearance - accident occurring when the forklift operator misjudges distance or clearance requirements and hits another object. Equipment damage most likely to occur.
Operator/Load Dropped - accident occurring when the load of a forklift falls during loading, unloading or hauling. Equipment damage and personal injury most likely to occur.
Maintenance - repair or adjustment of equipment, preventive maintenance checks and services, assembly, installing, replacing or cleaning involving a forklift. Individual injury most likely to occur.
Exit/Enter Vehicle - simple physical action of entering or exiting the forklift. Usually caused by haste and not following the three-point contact rule.
Operator/Human Locomotion - accident involving an operating forklift hitting an individual not directly working with the forklift. Individual injury most likely to occur.
Towing/Hauling - movement of a vehicle by another vehicle with either vehicle being a forklift. Individual injury most likely to occur.
Operator/Too Fast For Road Conditions - accident occurring when the operator is driving too fast for surface conditions. Equipment damage and personal injury most likely to occur.
Operator/Improper Physical Action - physical action take by the driver that causes injury to the driver.
Operator/Equipment Failure - failure of equipment directly causing an accident. Equipment damage mostly likely to occur.
Forklift accident prevention is a significant challenge to Army leadership in the field. Operator/material handling errors are the most hazardous types of forklift accidents. Accident reports documented operators who had improper licensing or who failed to follow procedures and safety standards, lacked ground guides, worked without supervision for difficult jobs, and lacked training for the specific forklift in use. Here is a list of procedures that unit leaders must enforce:
Permit only licensed operators on forklifts.
Require ground guides and require ground guides to use signals because noise levels around forklifts are high and voice communications often cannot be heard.
Do not allow forklifts to travel with forks elevated more than four inches above the ground. Require forks to rest on the ground when the forklift is parked.
Do not allow forklift operators to bump or push stacks to straighten or move the stacks.
Make sure operators secure and anchor bridge plates and ramps to prevent slipping.
Require operators to stop the engine and set the brake before getting off the forklift.
Make sure personnel in the area stand only where they cannot be struck by the load or the forklift. Also, make sure personnel in the area are away from the mast while the forklift is operating.
Do not allow operators to use the forklift to elevate personnel unless authorized by the supervisor.
Require operators to use a safety pallet when lifting is authorized. Personnel being lifted will face away from the mast and remain clear of the hoisting mechanism.
Do not allow personnel to counterbalance a load on the forklift by riding the load.
Require the correct size of forklift for the load capacity.
Require operators to stop the engine and set the brake if problems develop during moving, loading or unloading.
Require the operators to inspect the load to be moved. Do not allow operators to move unstable unsecured loads.
Do not allow ground personnel to manhandle heavy items onto the forks, and require ground personnel to ask for help with loading problems.
Leaders must continually remind ground personnel that they will lose every time in an "argument" with a forklift
Michael L. Davis, Quartermaster Branch Safety Office, Office of the Quartermaster General, Fort Lee, Virginia.
http://www.lee.army.mil/quartermaster/bulletin/1996/safe-spr96.html