Today we are going to outline 5 essential forklift safety tips that will help decrease the number of forklift-related accidents in your facility.

We have over 40 years in the material handling industry and we would love to share our expertise and experience with you.

Here are our tips - continue reading for more info:

Provide Proper Training for All Your Employees
Check Your Forklift Before Each Shift
Follow Safe Driving Practices
Make Sure Your Facility Is Safe
Implement Safety Procedures

Learn important forklift safety tips to prevent accidents

Forklift Safety Tips

The Ministry of Labour's study done in 1996 revealed that the main reason for forklift accidents such as collisions, shifting loads, and tip-overs, was due to lack of an effective safety program.

They found that workers were not trained properly, there was inadequate supervision and the work environments were not set up with safety in mind. The following is a list of forklift safety tips that will address these issues.

1. Provide Proper Training for All Your Employees

The OHSA (Occupational Health and Safety Act) requires that anyone who will be operating a lifting device needs to be competent. In order to be deemed "competent," you must:

Be qualified in terms of your knowledge, training, and experience to organize your work and its performance
Be familiar with the OHSA and the rules that apply to your work
Know about any possible or actual dangers related to health and safety in your workplace

It is your responsibility as an employer to make sure that every forklift operator in your facility takes forklift training and are deemed "competent" before they operate a forklift. Training should be both practical and in-class.

Forklift training should be both practical and in-class

There are different types of forklift training for different situations.

New Operator Training: If you have never operated a forklift before, then you need to take a course designed for new operators. It must be specific to the type of lifting device that you will be working with.

Forklift Refresher Training: If you are an experienced forklift operator, then you are required to take a forklift refresher training course every three years.

Change of Forklift Type: Forklift training is specific to the type of forklift you will be operating. If you change jobs or if you are assigned to a new class of forklift, then you need to take training that is specific to that class of forklift.

People Who Work around Forklifts: Even if you don't operate a forklift, if you work in the vicinity of forklifts, you also require training so that you can recognize potential sources of harm or injury and know the rules and procedures to avoid them.

You need to be trained on the specific type of forklift you will be operating

2. Check Your Forklift Before Each Shift

Each forklift operator should perform a pre-shift inspection of their vehicle before they begin each shift.

This is a thorough inspection that should help you identify any potential safety risks so you can have them addressed before you use your forklift.

During your pre-shift inspection, you will be checking things like:

The condition of your tires: ensuring there is no excessive wear
Your fluid levels: making sure they are topped up
The presence of any fluid leaks: such as water, oil, or hydraulic fluid
The condition of your forks: making sure they are straight and not cracked
Your safety features: making sure your brakes, lights, horn, and steering wheel are all functioning properly
Your working environment: looking for any obstructions, uneven surfaces, overhead obstacles, any any other potential hazards
Your lifting device: Check your chains, mast and hydraulic system to make sure that they are in good condition

If you notice any safety hazards during your inspection of your forklift, do not ignore it. You need to lockout/tagout your vehicle until it is fixed.

Learn how to perform a pre shift inspection

3. Follow Safe Driving Practices

When forklifts are in use, there are different ways in which they can become a safety hazard:

If your aisles, pathways, and storage areas are not clearly marked
If pedestrians wander into the path of a forklift
If loads accidentally fall over

In order to keep everyone in your facility safe, here are some forklift safety tips related to safe driving:

Watch where you are going: When you are driving your forklift, always look in the direction that you are going. If you can't see in front of you because of the size of your load, then drive in reverse.

Make your presence known: Use your horn when you come to a blind corner or intersection or use forklift safety lights to warn others of your presence.

Forklift safety tips: install blue and red forklift safety lights

Follow posted signs: Make sure you are following posted speed limits, floor makings and warning signs informing you of intersections and restricted areas.

Make sure your load is properly balanced: If your load is not properly balanced, it could fall off or tip over. Also make sure that your load doesn't exceed the maximum capacity of your forklift.

Follow safe driving practices: Make sure that your forks are securely under and are inserted as far under your load as possible before you start to drive. Drive with your load as low as you possibly can.

4. Make Sure Your Facility Is Safe

You should make sure that your facility is designed or laid out in such a way as to ensure the safety of all your workers. Ensure that:

Overhead and side clearances are sufficient to all for the safe operation of your forklifts. This includes areas such as loading docks, doorways, and in rooms
Floors, passageways, and aisles are all clear and free from any obstructions, debris, spills, or other hazards
Your facility has adequate ventilation so that vapours form refuelling and the operation of your forklifts don't accumulate

Make sure that your facility is designed with safety in mind

5. Implement Safety Procedures

You can take additional steps to keep your workers safe by implementing more safety procedures such as:

Visual communications: Set up safety signs, traffic control signs at intersections, and aisle markers
Instruct all workers to be alert: Workers can also be instructed to watch out for unsecured or imbalanced loads, listen for horns, make eye contact with any forklift driver near them, and stay away from areas where pedestrians are not allowed.
Provide pedestrian training: You can ensure your workers safety further by providing them with special pedestrian awareness training.

Wayco Cares about Your Workers' Safety

Wayco cares about worker safety. We can help you make your forklift equipment as safe as possible by performing regular maintenance for you.

Looking for professional safety training for all of your employees? Wayco provides a full range of forklift and other worker safety training programs. We can come to your facility or do the training at ours; whichever you prefer.

We also have a large supply of quality forklift safety lights and equipment that we can install for you to keep you and your employees safe.

Contact us today to set up a regular maintenance schedule, sign up for safety training, and to get your safety equipment installed.

contact wayco today

"I really recommend to get your lift license here. One of the best courses I've take in my life, they make sure everything’s done the safest ways step by step so you can walk out ready for the job. Angela is the best teacher, very funny but makes sure all precautions are taken.Excellent place to get your forklift or scissor license in Kitchener Waterloo."

- Miguel Maza
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5 Essential Forklift Safety Tips