Safety Organizations Join Forces to Give the Tools of Safety to Teen Workers: Where’s the Forklift?

The Journal of Safety Research released in June 2024 a report entitled, “Evaluation of changes in knowledge and attitude among youth after a one-hour introduction to workplace safety and health: Safety Matters”. The study revealed that after a one hour training, the students’ scores improved to 85% correct from 65%. All it contained was a presentation and two short videos. With more and more teens entering in facilities to work over the summer, winter breaks or year long internships, shouldn’t forklifts be included? Since it wasn’t included, are you enforcing forklift access restrictions?

Forklift Access Restrictions

Let’s be fair. This simple study shows that teaching kids the basics of safety will stay with them for the long term. If this was available sooner and more widespread in its teachings, then maybe the teens that died due to forklifts could have been averted. If you recall, there were a few stories that we shared with teens breaking into a yard to play on a forklift. It didn’t end well. If they had the knowledge, maybe they wouldn’t have touched the forklift. But since they did, and the teachings right now do not include forklifts, forklift access restrictions or forklift access control needs to be enforced.

Forklift access restrictions or forklift access control is the ability to implement technology on an AI based forklift safety system to ensure the forklift’s inability to start or turn on without the proper credentials. When education isn’t enough at school or work and the rules are followed, forklift access restrictions is a must have for the facility.

How Does Forklift Access Restrictions Work?

As part of a forklift safety system, forklift access restrictions or forklift access control works to keep authorized individuals on the forklift, and unauthorize workers off the forklift by ensuring the lift truck doesn’t even start, regardless if it is a gas, propane or electric lift. Here’s a few things it can do.

• When the forklift operator first attempts to sign on to the forklift, it must be done by the forklift safety system. Either a QR code is scanned or a PIN number in order to access the machine. The Dashboard records the entry. But the lift truck won’t start yet.
• The forklift safety check must be completed digitally and pass. All answers are recorded and if the lift truck does not pass, notifications are sent to one or more individuals informing of the failed safety inspection. The forklift continues to be silent.
• The forklift safety system automatically checks to ensure the forklift operator is current on their certification. If the answer to that is a ‘no’, the forklift will not start. However, this is only after the warnings have been administered to the forklift operator and those that have access to the Dashboard. Again, the forklift remains quiet.
• Impacts are another important aspect to forklift safety. If the forklift operator has an impact, and it is greater than the impact threshold set by the safety professional, the forklift will provide a warning. This warning gives the operator the ability to pull over to a safe location.

These forklift access restrictions work to keep everyone safe. It protects based on the situation around it and acts accordingly and consistently. This is why a forklift safety system needs to be installed on every forklift.

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