Could Advanced Safety Technology Prevents Forklift Accidents from Happening?

A split second is all it takes for a forklift accident to occur. We wanted to share a couple of forklift accident stories recounted by law firms and a publication. These stories confirm the importance of implementing forklift safety technology. If they had the SIERA.AI safety solution, the forklift operator would have known in time. Let’s take a look:

Struck by a Forklift Truck

A worker in the facility was going about his normal duties. The forklift operator began to move the forklift in reverse knocking down the facility worker. It appeared to be a non-threatening injury with some lower back pain. However, over the next 5 years, it was clear that his lower back was not going to get better. As a result, the worker had to retrain for a desk job which resulted in lower wages. The parties involved tried to settle, but the case ended up going to court. 

SIERA.AI Safety Solution: Forklift operators are expected to know what’s going on around the entire forklift at all times. But we all know that it is challenging to ‘see’ every movement…every second around the forklift. And, don’t forget, the operator is to perform their job at the same time. 

If the forklift operator had the S3 Pedestrian Detection, it would have notified the forklift operator with audio and visual alerts. Even if the pedestrian was partially blocked by the rack system, objects or boxes, the pedestrian would still have been detected. 

Learn about the S3 Safety Solutions now.

Dragged by a Forklift

Forklift accidents can even occur in pedestrian designated areas. The pedestrian was walking near the pedestrian walkway. The individual was struck by the forklift from behind and dragged 20 feet causing severe injuries. Because the forklift driver’s view was obstructed, he didn’t know he struck and dragged a person. The claim stated that the forklift drivers were poorly trained. 

SIERA.AI Safety Solution: To begin, we really don’t know if the driver was poorly trained. One way to actually know how a forklift driver is performing is with data. Tracking near misses and impacts is a great way to know the quality of a forklift driver. This information is collected in real-time and stored in the SIERA.AI web-based Dashboard. Here you will be able to view and analyze the data and know exactly what action you need to take to provide targeted training…specific to the need of the forklift driver. 

The second solution is to use the S3 Pedestrian Detection safety solution that monitors around the forklift every 60ms. A pair of eyes cannot move that quickly…that often in order to detect if a pedestrian is nearby. Now the driver can focus on the work at hand and become more productive.

Get a first-hand look at the SIERA.AI Web-based Dashboard. Next Schedule a Meeting with One of Our Professionals

Forklift Operator Crushed by His Own Forklift

A forklift operator was crushed when he left his seat to look into the bin that he had just picked up. He didn’t turn off the forklift and as a result, his foot hit the controls and the mast tilt moved crushing him between the mast and the overhead guard. Unfortunately, the operator died in the forklift accident. The workers and paramedics did all they could to save his life.

SIERA.AI Safety Solution:

Sometimes reviewing the basics is a good idea. SIERA.AI free forklift certification can help you brush up on forklift safety for class 1, 4 and 5 forklift trucks. It’s free training materials that you can view over and over again during the course of your career. 

In addition, take a look at the S2 Digital Inspection with Impact Detection. One of the benefits of the digital inspection is the ability to change, add, delete forklift inspection questions. Maybe your paper-based inspection today doesn’t discuss leaving your forklift seat or standing on a running forklift. But the S2 gives you the flexibility to modify your forklift inspection questions right in the Dashboard allowing changes to occur real-time. Now track the answers and know how the operators answered.

Overall…

Don’t take forklift safety for granted. Track your near misses to gain a better perspective of what’s going on in the facility so you can take corrective action before an accident occurs. Contact SIERA.AI today and you’ll discover new ways to keep everyone safe and become more productive at the same time.