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Forklifts are functional vehicles that provide an very important service in a variety of environments. Just imagine how hard it would be to boost productivity in the warehouse environment without forklifts. Even simple tasks like moving stock would become very difficult. Forklifts can be very dangerous when in a state of poor repair, and their condition should never be taken for granted. When a forklift handles improperly it can cause a great deal of danger, both to those around the forklift and the person operating it. For this reason, understanding basic forklift safety is of the highest importance.

The most imperative first stage to ensuring a good level of safety regarding your forklift equipment is to put into place a forklift inspection policy. Visual checks should be carried out by the operator before each and every shift. The operator should check all controls for damage, missing buttons, etc, aswell as making sure that the forks themselves and lifting assembly are in good order. Any problems that are found should be reported immediately and the machine should not be operated untill the problems have been repaired. A more thorough examination of the forklift should be carried out at least annually. This allows mechanical problems to be diagnosed and repaired. Further midway inspections should be carried out on at least two other occasions during the year as a failsafe measure. This will help you to keep unsafe forklifts out of the working environment, and will furthermore extend the life of your forklift equipment.

Ensuring that your forklift operators are fully trained and certified is of critical importance, the certification of any new employee should always be checked up and certification confirmed with the issuing body. Any inhouse training should be of the highest possible standard and cover all aspects required by the certifying body. The training is there to protect your business against loss and damages, cutting corners will only increase the level of risk to yor workforce and company assets.

When it comes to forklift safety, there is a lot to be said for ordinary old fasioned common sense, all of the below forklift safety proceedures are just that, but you would be surprised how often they are overlooked.

Maximum load handing:
The operator should be familiar with the load limits of his eqiupment, overloading the forklift and operating it beyond the tolerences for which it was designed is very risky and can lead to crushing injuries and rolling the truck. There is also the danger of breaking the load chain which is also a very dangerous situation.

Center of gravity:
The load should always be well stacked on the pallet to be lifted, where possible the weight should be evenly distributed and its center of gravity should always be at the center of the load. Unbalanced and unsecure loads represent a hazard in themselves. If you feel a load is potentially unsafe then take the time to correct the load as best as possible before moving it, even if it means restacking the entire pallet, its better than it coming loose in transit and crushing someone. IOSH Managing Safely

Keep pedestrians seperate:
Areas used by forklifts and pedestrians should be seperated wherever possible, forklifts should also have their own dedicated doorways which pedestrians should not use. By seperating pedestrians and forklifts in this manner there is a very significant reduction in risk of injury. IOSH Managing Safely

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