Forklift Collisions Cause Damage to Vehicles, Products and Humans
Your warehouse is not a demolition derby. We’ve all seen the YouTube videos of forklift collisions that can occur from careless forklift driving. Your goal either as a forklift operator or warehouse manager is to minimize these incidents and provide safe, economical movement of product without inflicting damage on forklifts, racks, inventory, and most importantly, other workers in the warehouse. Oh, and if you’re the driver…yourself!
As with most aspects of forklift operation, proper training of drivers is the key to minimizing forklift collisions. There is no technology, rule, or parameter that is as powerful as having well-trained, alert and aware forklift drivers and warehouse workers. Both need to buy into the program of forklift collision avoidance. Here are tips that forklift drivers, forklift fleet managers and warehouse managers can implement in an effort to reduce forklift collisions.
- Make sure your forklifts have all the safety bells and whistles, and that they work! As part of a pre-shift checklist, drivers should verify that brakes, horns, mirrors, back-up beepers, headlights and flashing safety lights are all functioning properly.
- Perform regularly scheduled forklift maintenance. Many forklift collisions happen because of faulty brakes or sudden, unanticipated acceleration due to poorly maintained vehicles.
- Be extra cautious at intersections. If you’re carrying a big load that’s impeding your vision and you’re entering an intersection, definitely use a spotter or cordon off the area to stop potential issues.
- Use rack guards or bollards at intersections and other locations where there is a high incidence of forklifts colliding with racks. For more details on warehouse safety protection, see our pallet rack safety accessories page. We also have an extensive video training series covering proper forklift operation for various types of storage systems.
- Keep a neat and organized house. Don’t have boxes, pallets, tools or shrink wrapping carelessly strewn around the warehouse. Have a designated area for trash, and train maintenance workers to keep their tools close to their work area. A forklift that has to weave around obstacles is an invitation to a collision. Also make sure that the floors are clear of liquid spills and debris – if your operation needs sweepers or scrubbers we’ve got you covered!
- Use specified forklift driving lanes. Layout your warehouse to minimize the potential for forklift collisions and consider floor striping to clearly designate forklift and pedestrian traffic.
- ALWAYS drive in the direction with best visibility. Look in the direction you’re driving. Drivers have a tendency to keep an eye on their load, even when they are driving in reverse. Resist the temptation. When you’re in reverse, look behind you.
- Equip your warehouse and your forklifts with the most up-to-date safety technology. As we’ve seen with automobiles and trucks, a whole range of new safety devices has been developed to improve vehicle safety and prevent collisions. For forklifts, these include:
- Forklift-mounted collision sensors. These safety devices offer 180-degree warning of nearby pedestrians or obstacles and are especially useful when carrying a large load that impedes visibility. They can be field-configured to provide changing signals at various distance intervals, for example, a slow flashing light at 16 ft., a more-rapid flash at 10 ft., and an audible alarm at 6 ft.
- On-floor LED warning system. A ceiling-mounted sensor detects the presence of a forklift approaching an intersection, and a projector casts a warning sign on the floor to alert pedestrians of that oncoming forklift.
- Wireless forklift detection system. In this system, a sensor is mounted on corner racks, while tags are mounted on forklifts. When the rack sensor detects an oncoming forklift, a visual or audible alarm is triggered, warning pedestrians or other personnel. Some systems also feature tags for warehouse workers to wear.
- Interactive Overhead LED Collision Warning Signs. These are generally overhead LED signs that warn a forklift driver of a pedestrian in the vicinity, and can be activated by the pedestrian via a gate or door opening, a button, or a motion detector.
When it comes to your forklift fleet, safety is job #1. Apex can outfit your forklifts with the latest safety technology and conduct a warehouse safety audit to help you make forklift collisions a thing of the past. If you’re in the Chicago area, let Apex put its material handling experience to work for you!