OSHA Advisory Committee Meeting this Week
The OSHA Advisory Committee met this week to provide updates on safety in the workplace. Overall, the OSHA representative shared that there continues to be 15 fatalities each day in the workplace. This includes, but not limited to power industrial trucks. As statistics continue to prove, forklift fatalities remain in the top 5 for OSHA violations as reported for FY2023. The OSHA Advisory Committee also reported that the OSHA Act from 2010 to 2022 has leveled out, meaning that the number of fatalities and injuries have not reduced, it simply has remained the same.
What Does This Mean?
This tells us that the traditional forklift safety measures have done all they can do, and something new or different needs to happen to help that number go down. However, there is a major challenge. During an economic webinar by Prestige Economics this week reported on the aging population. Since Covid, the experienced over 55 year old forklift operators have not returned to the workplace, and their numbers remain very low. In addition, the 16-19 year olds are taking those jobs and this group of inexperienced forklift operators are increasing at a steady pace.
Will OSHA Do More?
The OSHA Advisor Committee reported that the OSHA budget will not be moving over the next fiscal year. Currently, they spend $3.77 per worker with an OSHA budget of $632.3 million. However, a safety specialist had shared that OSHA is well aware of the AI based forklift safety systems offered in the market and stated that if a forklift accident occurs, they will be questioning the safety professional as to why they don’t have a forklift safety system in place.
Control is in Your Hands
Being able to get your arms around safety to ensure injuries and fatalities are a thing of the past, the best way to move forward is with a SIERA.AI AI-based forklift safety system. It’ll take care of your OSHA compliance digitally. Just as important is the identification of workers or pedestrians around the forklift. An AI based forklift safety system will be on constant watch, every 60ms, scanning for people and objects. When the intelligent system finds a person or object within the pre-defined distance of safety vs danger, it will immediately release an audio and visual warning for the forklift operator so action can be taken to avoid the issue.
Our forklift safety system issues an audio alarm along with a flashing symbol of a person or box to let the operator know what’s ahead. This is the type of safety that is demanded in order for the number to be affected. Based on the data mentioned above, with younger operators coming into the market, this is vital as accidents can increase as a result. This will help keep that number going in the right direction…down.
For Those Operators Not Willing to Make a Change
We need to give forklift operators the benefit of the doubt. However, we know there are some that simply won’t make the change for whatever reason. The SIERA.AI Autoslow to a Safe Stop ensures a secure environment. If the forklift operator decides to move forward with the forklift despite the warnings, this can be a problem. We’ve confronted this issue with the Autoslow to a Safe Stop. If a forklift operator fails to stop or change direction, the forklift safety system will override the forklift operator and begin slowing down automatically. This is the best way to ensure safety in your facility and reduce injuries and damages.
Contact Us!
Contact us today at sales@siera.ai or call us at (512) 817 0702.