Forklift and Lift Truck Safety

1
Forklift and Lift Truck Safety
2
Survey Fatalities
3
Survey By Industry
4
Survey By Accident Type
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Stability of Powered Industrial Trucks

• Stability Triangle
• Longitudinal Stability
• Lateral Stability
• Dynamic Stability

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Stability Triangle
Vehicle Center of Gravity (Unloaded)
B
A
Center of Gravity of Vehicle and Maximum
Load (Theoretical)
C
Notes
1. When the vehicle is loaded, the combined
center of gravity (CG) shifts toward line B-C.
Theoretically the maximum load will result in the
CG at the line B-C. In actual practice, the
combined CG should never be at line B-C. 2. The
addition of additional counterweight will cause
the truck CG to shift toward point A and result
in a truck that is less stable laterally.
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Stability Triangle
Load CG
Load CG
Vertical Stability Line (Line of Action)
Combined CG
Combined CG
Vertical Stability Line (Line of Action)
Truck CG
Truck CG
This vehicle is unstable and will continue to
tip over
The vehicle is stable
8
Forklift Fatality

• On July 24, 2004, a 19-year-old laborer with 8
  days mining experience was injured at a crushed
  stone operation. The victim was operating a skid
  steer loader to clean spillage around the plant.
  He was found caught between the tilt cylinder
  assembly and the top front of the operator's cab.
  The victim was flown to a hospital where he died
  on August 6, 2004.

9
Forklift Fatality

• On October 1, 2003, a 39-year-old
  laborer/operator, with 4½ years experience, was
  fatally injured at a surface dredge operation.
  The victim was using a forklift, near the edge of
  a dredge pond, to relocate the dredge's high
  voltage cable. He drowned when the embankment
  sloughed off causing the forklift to tip in the
  pond.

10
Forklift Fatality

• On September 1, 2003, a 20-year-old laborer, with
  1½ years mining experience, was fatally injured
  at a surface dimension sandstone mine. The victim
  was operating a fork lift when he lost control
  and overturned while traveling on a mine roadway.
  

11
Forklift Fatality

• On December 9, 2002, a 48-year-old delivery truck
  driver was fatally injured at a potash operation.
  The victim parked his truck at the warehouse and
  was gathering the slings that had been used to
  secure the rolls of conveyor belt to the flat bed
  trailer during transit. As a forklift was being
  used to unload a roll, it accidentally dislodged
  another roll from its wooden cradle. The victim
  was struck by the roll as it fell from the flat
  bed trailer.

12
Forklift Fatality

• On May 5, 2001, a 58-year old mechanic
  (contractor employee) with 3 days mining
  experience was fatally injured at a dimension
  stone operation. The victim was preparing to
  perform maintenance on the front wheel of a
  skid-steer loader. He had extended the boom to
  the full raised position and disconnected the
  pressure side hydraulic line for the boom. The
  sudden release of hydraulic pressure caused the
  boom to fall, pinning him against the ground.

13
Forklift Fatality

• On Tuesday, March 21, 2000, a forklift operator
  was fatally injured in a surface haulage
  accident. The operator of the forklift was
  traveling on the Scale House road to a storage
  building to pick up an electric motor. The
  forklift apparently slipped off the shoulder of
  the paved roadway which had a 9" drop to the
  gravel shoulder area. When the operator attempted
  to maneuver the forklift back onto the paved
  roadway, the forklift slid sideways and rolled
  over pinning the victim between the front left
  post of the falling object protection and the
  asphalt roadway.

14
Forklift Fatality

• On December 2, 1996, a mechanic with 9 years of
  mining experience was killed at a limestone
  quarry. There were no witnesses to the accident.
  The employee was in the process of repairing a
  skid steer loader and was crushed when the bucket
  arm on the loader came down on him.

15
Forklift Fatality

• On September 13, 2000, a skid loader operator,
  age 28, was fatally injured as he either leaned
  over in the seat or attempted to exit the skid
  loader and accidentally activated the controls,
  causing the bucket to lower and pin him between
  the cross-bar member of the boom and the frame
  structure.
• On July 19, 1997, a front-end loader operator,
  with 1 year of mining experience, was fatally
  injured at a sand and gravel operation. The
  victim was operating a small skid-steer loader to
  clean up around the plant. When he leaned out of
  the cab to refasten a latch that had come loose,
  he inadvertently pushed the pedal which operates
  the lift boom. The victim was pinned between the
  cross arm of the lift boom and the upper front
  edge of the cab.
• December 12, 1996, a fork lift operator with 20
  years of mining experience was killed at a
  limestone quarry. The employee was operating a
  fork lift when he struck a pipe that was
  protruding 1-foot out of the ground. The fork
  lift overturned causing the employee to be
  partially thrown from the operator's compartment
  and pinned under the unit's canopy. The victim
  died from crushing injuries.

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Safe Work Procedures

• Always operate within the specific capacity of
  your equipment.
• Always look in the direction of travel.
• Always think about the hazards of the route you
  must take before you get there.
• Always operate your equipment at safe speed.