Top 5 Forklifts Accidents: Are they Different than in 1998?
Are forklifts accidents today different than the forklifts accidents of the past? An interesting question, especially with the advancements made in forklift technology and the additional safety measures that have been applied by the manufacturers. A quick search on OSHA’s website brought us to this top page. “Summaries of Selected Forklift Fatalities Investigated by OSHA.” This article was written and posted in 1998. Here are the top five that OSHA posted and written with mini-case studies, they include: Employee struck by forklift, forklift tipover, crushed by forklift, struck by forklift, and fall from forklift. Interesting. Did these top five seem different to you? The OSHA summary was written 25 years ago. Forklifts accidents remain the same, even 25 years later. How can forklift accidents be reduced to eliminate even one of these forklifts accidents type in the coming years? Let’s take a deeper look.
What are Forklifts Accidents?
Forklifts accidents occur when there is either a lapse in judgement or an unforeseen circumstance that causes: equipment to equipment accidents, equipment to person accidents, equipment to product accidents or an equipment to facility accidents. OSHA reports that an estimated 35,000 to 62,000 injuries occur every year involving forklifts.
Problem: Workers Struck by Forklift
Workers are often struck by forklifts. There is no one cause for the forklifts accidents. However, some of the most common reasons are operator fatigue, distracted (as using the cell phone), or just being careless like driving too fast, going fast around corners and the like.
Solution: The S3 forklift safety system by SIERA.AI will help prevent workers being struck by a forklift. The machine learning AI technology works to identify a person (which it knows the difference between a person or an object), and notifies the forklift driver when a person has entered the hazard or danger zone so they can take action to stop the accident from reaching full maturity.
Problem: Forklift Tipover or Forklift Rollover
Whichever you want to call it, it means the same thing. The forklift is no longer vertical, it’s now laying on its side. Some of the main reasons for a forklift to rollover include too much weight being carried on the forks. It exceeds the limit. Driving too fast and turning the corners at a greater speed than the forklift can handle. Driving on an uneven surface. You think this is only outdoors, but it happens often indoors as well. Driving with the load lifted and add to it, stopping quickly. All these are common candidates for a forklifts accident.
Solution: Yes, the solution is to do just the opposite of what is listed above. But in addition, a forklift safety system can also help with speed control. Warnings that the forklift is exceeding the recommended speed. SIERA.AI will be releasing this in the upcoming months. A combination of forklift training and the speed control will work in unison to change this behavior.
Problem: Crushed or Struck by a Forklift
Workers trust that the forklift operator can ‘see’ them. That’s why forklifts accidents occur. They are not necessarily seen all of the time. In addition, workers sometimes try to ‘quickly’ cross behind the forklift, and their estimation was incorrect.
Solution: The workers should go through the same or similar training as the forklift operators. This will educate them on why it’s best not to test the forklift operators ability to ‘see’. In addition, the forklift operator needs help. They can’t work and watch for moving pedestrians at the same time. That’s where the S3 forklift safety system works. It will identify a person within a predefined distance, such as 5’, 10.5’, anything you want up to 33 feet in a single direction. Then it will warn the driver that a person has entered into a space that can be cause for forklifts accidents.
Contact Us!
Contact us today at sales@siera.ai or call us at (512) 817 0702.