What is G-Force and How Does It Relates to Forklift Impacts?

We’re hearing a lot more about forklift G force impact sensor, yet many of us are not even clear on what G force actually is. We did a bit of investigating to find the easiest way to understand the concept.

G force, is force measured with respect to the Earth’s gravity. It is calculated by dividing force by the acceleration of the Earth’s gravity. For instance, if you were taking off on an airplane, you can ‘feel’ the acceleration of the plane pushing you upward. However, you can also ‘feel’ the muscles in your face pushing downward. That’s G force.

If you want to know the force, how many G’s a particular forklift impact had on the racking system, another piece of equipment or even a pedestrian, 1G equals 22 mph per second. If a forklift hits a racking system at 3G’s, that’s 66 mph per second. That will definitely make the structural integrity of the racking system change.

Forklift Impact Sensor: Measurement of Forklift Safety

When it comes to forklift safety, getting as much information on the multi-ton forklift truck when it strikes another machine, racking system, products or even a worker, the results can be disastrous. However, the forklift impact are often low speed impacts where the forklift driver makes his/her own personal determination on the severity of the impact. Most times the forklift impact goes without being recorded.

A forklift impact on a racking system can appear to be minimal, however, the integrity of the structure is compromised. Now, imagine that same or similar area being hit again, and again and again over time, is the structure safe to store heavy pallets? Probably not. Same can be said with conveyors or processing lines. The slightest bump or nudge to a conveyor or production line can cause the system to be out of alignment.

By collecting information on all impacts regardless if it’s serious or not serious, you’ll be able to evaluate each of the impacts to determine the cause, affect and identify any patterns.

How to Get a True Picture with Forklift Impact Sensor

In order to get a true or clear understanding of what’s going on in the facility, it’s best to collect information with a forklift G force impact sensor. A forklift G force impact sensor is part of the SIERA.AI S2 Digital Inspection with Impact Monitoring. To begin, you will need to decide your impact strategy.

• • Do you want to know every impact?
  • Do you want to only collect G force impacts of 3G, 4G, and greater?
  • Or a combination of both.

You can define and collect any data you want by simply going to the online Dashboard and changing the criteria. You can start by collecting all of the information and analyze it for patterns. 

• • Is there a particular area within the facility where most forklift impacts occur?
  • Are they low level impacts, a mix of impacts? 
  • Have you checked the infrastructure or equipment for integrity issues? Weaknesses? Damage? Have you determined it’s safe to continue?

You can come up with many more questions which you can get answers to. These are to get you started so you can create a list that’s meaningful to you and your organization.

Make Decisions

Now that you’re equipped with meaningful information, you can now begin to make decisions that keeps your forklift drivers, facility, pedestrians and infrastructure safe. 

Some areas that customers have been able to improve are:

• • Focused forklift training – instead of putting all the drivers through the same training, tailor each driver to where they need the most improvement. 
  • Potential alterations to an unsafe area, or increase safety measures such as speed control (also offered by SIERA.AI) on the forklifts to ensure safety is implemented.
  • Repairs on infrastructure so you can maximize the operational efficiencies and improve productivity and profits with the forklifts. 

When you’re ready to take control of your forklifts and environment contact us today.