Are You Following OSHA’s Near Miss Reporting Policy for Forklifts

Near miss reporting is a well known OSHA policy amongst safety professionals. Most near miss reporting usually consists of incidences of slipping, tripping, narrowly escaping, mishandling and more. They certainly happen, and many times, it’s not a regular occurrence. Filling out an OSHA near miss reporting form is ready available and easy to do. But what about near miss reporting for the forklift? And if you have 20 of them, will a near miss report be filled out each time there’s a near miss? Probably not. How can it be recorded? How about digitally.

What is Near Miss Reporting?

According to OSHA, “the purpose of this policy is to ensure that all near-miss incidents (including minor incidents) are reported, recorded and investigated. Reporting and sharing information with relevant parties creates an opportunity to answer the questions of what happened and why and then to use this insight to determine how to prevent a reoccurrence.” We couldn’t agree more. Recording near misses on a forklift is vital to understanding why the incident is occurring and how it can be changed in order for the incident to slow down or even stop from maturing.

Near Miss on a Forklift

Near misses occur more frequently on a forklift. The forklift operator almost hit the racking system. The forklift almost hit the worker while turning the corner. It happens all the time. However, does the forklift operator fill out a report each time? Probably not. Near misses on a forklift is not usually tracked or reported, so nobody knows the real number of near misses. But what if you can?

With the SIERA.AI forklift safety solution, you can track the number of near misses for each forklift by shift and by operator. The forklift safety system automatically records the near miss so you can make changes that affect the workers and damage to the facility.

What Can Be Tracked

Each time the forklift operator slams on his brakes, that’s counted as a near miss…unless impact is actually made. If impact is made, then the system will register it as a low, medium and high impact. In terms of impacts, the manager can set the G force to define low, medium and high impact. Just remember, 1 G equals 22MPH. If no impact is made but a jolt occurs, it will be counted as a near miss. Why is this important?

Near Misses Provide Important Insights

Near misses are the precursor to an impact. If you get, for example, 25 near misses in a single day in a particular location, that’s a sign that there is an issue and you can go inspect the area. But if near miss tracking wasn’t available, the only time you find out the 25 near misses is when the 26^th happens…an impact. This will avoid damage to the facility, injury to a worker and possible downtime to a forklift that didn’t need to be. That area only needed to be inspected and solved.

Telemetry Dashboard

Near miss reporting is found in your new online telemetry Dashboard. The SIERA.AI telemetry Dashboard gives you an easy to read, graphics Dashboard so you can quickly ‘see’ your near misses, low, medium and high impacts for a day, week, year or any custom range. Dig deeper into your near miss number and find out the critical information you need to know to avoid newly budding areas that can cause injury or damage. So if an OSHA auditor asks you about near miss reporting for your forklifts, now you can give a report with just two simple clicks, and you are in compliance.

Contact SIERA.AI today to begin your near miss tracking at sales@siera.ai or call (512) 817 0702