Is There a Forklift Safety Device that Can Actually Stop an Accident?

Standard Forklift Safety Devices

There are numerous standard forklift safety devices offered in the market for the operator, forklift and the facility itself. Let’s take a quick look at each area:

Operator Safety Devices: Regardless of the make, model or forklift use, all operators need to be equipped with a seat belt, helmet, and a harness all of which are there to reduce the chances of an injury if an accident was to occur.

Forklift Safety Devices: The forklift safety devices that are installed directly on the forklift include blue lights, horns, backup alarms, clear caps, seat caddies, strobe lights to name a few. The purpose is to alert other workers and pedestrians in the facility when a forklift is near. This is to help the forklift driver to focus more on his/her work and less on the environment around him/her.

Facility Safety Devices: Facilities have invested in 5S markings, safety vests for workers and pedestrians, as well as cameras installed on walls and racking systems so the driver can ‘see’ around corners and tough blind spots. This is to help the forklift operator ‘see’ what’s going on around him so he can identify pedestrians or objects in the area. This reduces the risk that an accident will occur especially when visibility is a challenge.

When we add all of these items up, it’s amazing that 3 forklift deaths have already occurred and it’s only 9 days into December. With all the forklift safety devices that we just mentioned, can anything really stop accidents? Is it really possible to bring forklift accidents down to the company’s goal of ‘zero’?

AI Forklift Safety Devices

There are technology-based forklift safety devices in the market, but most are not well suited for the industrial facility. There’s too much movement of people, equipment and product, if you need to rely on people to make the right decision and put on a wearable device, or have their cell phone ready to go, then be sure you have a percentage of risk and failure built into the equation. 

So, what forklift safety devices actually work? The S3 Pedestrian Detection and the S3 Slow to a Safe Stop by SIERA.AI. 

Let’s take a look at the S3 Pedestrian Detection. This is a forklift safety device that notifies the driver with visual and audio cues when it identifies a person fully or partially like a foot, hand or knee cap, and alerts the driver with a clear digital display on the tablet that a person is x feet away. Here’s the video that shows the worker crawling on the floor, and behind a box and the technology identifies it as a person.

Next, the S3 Slow to a Safe Stop does exactly that! It overrides the driver and stops! This is one of the favorite videos because you can see how it overrides the driver and stops when something comes in its path. Now, this forklift safety device is best used in your high risk areas to ensure safety for the pedestrians, workers and the driver. 

Once you view SIERA.AI’s S3 safety solutions on the video, ask to talk to one of our sales consultants so they can have you watch it work live…right in your facility. Ready?