The Importance Of Forklift

Forklifts play a vital role in the logistics and transportation, construction and manufacturing industries. They are useful when heavy loads need to be handled and transported easily and quickly. However, if they are mishandled or used inappropriately, property damage, serious injuries or even fatalities can occur. The unsafe use of forklifts can cause incidents in the workplace. Some examples of unsafe situations including of using untrained personnel to operate forklifts, poor workplace traffic management, fatigued workers and adverse ground conditions. These unsafe situations could be improved with proper training and active management involvement.

When any person operates a forklift to carry out work, the Employer shall comply with the

Accident statistics have shown that forklift accidents accounted for several workplace fatalities and injuries. Forklift operators and related stakeholders in the workplace are exposed to different hazards in the course of their daily work duties. Knowing the hazards and risks of forklift operations will facilitate the implementation of control measures to prevent occurrence of similar incidents. Hence, it is important to consider the following categories of hazards like fall-related hazards, physical hazards, chemical hazards, fatigue-related hazards and other hazards.

Forklift operators are exposed to fall-related hazards in a variety of ways such as falls of Forklift Operators and Co-workers. During normal operations, operators will need to access the cabin frequently. While climbing into or down from the cabin, they may slip and fall when they miss a step or when ground conditions are poor. Under no circumstances should the forklift be used for ferrying or elevating

The types of physical hazards are temperature, vibration, lighting and noise. In the context of temperature hazard, loading and unloading of material may be conducted under harsh climatic conditions while working outdoors (the temperature gets too high) or indoors (working in cold room conditions). Extreme temperature conditions can be uncomfortable and may affect the forklift driver’s physical health and induce psychic stress. For the vibration (Hand-arm, Whole-body), forklift operators may be required to drive long hours that will expose them to vibration from the forklift trucks. Vibration of the forklift trucks may also arise from the rigid construction, lack of suspension of driver’s seat and rough terrain. Prolonged and excessive exposure to wholebody vibration may lead to health issues concerning the neck and lower back. Lighting also will lead to be as a hazard when the workplace lighting can have a significant impact on forklift operators. Inadequate lighting in the work area may affect forklift operators’ visibility and judgment. Next, when operating a forklift inside a warehouse, the noise it generates may be excessive. Exposure to excessive noise levels may lead to hearing