​Five Steps That Can Keep Pedestrians Safe From Forklifts

11th Aug 2020

Question: What are some of the measures that one can take to ensure that pedestrians are protected from forklifts related accidents?

Answer: The very first thing that you need to do is to carefully monitor your warehouse operations and figure out the areas where the forklift and pedestrians are likely to get into conflict. Once you identify these areas the next step will be to come up with measures that you can use to curb the highlighted risks to safety. let us discuss some of those measures in this article.

Markings And Barriers

An effective way of keeping the warehouse safe is ensuring that you separate the pedestrians and the forklifts as much as you can. You can do this very well using markings that help demarcate the areas of operation for the pedestrians and the forklifts. You can go a step further and erect barriers in the areas demarcated to ensure you limit the chances of either party crossing into a no-go zone area is greatly diminished.

Use Safety Signs

Most of the accidents can be prevented just by proper traffic management. A great way to achieve this is by erecting relevant warning signs all across the warehouse. The best way to go about it is by ensuring the signs are visible and in areas where accidents are likely to occur like in intersections. The signs can be more effective too if the interested parties are knowledgeable about them and can tell immediately what they are communicating in the shortest time possible.

Elaborate Safety Procedures

It is important that every warehouse comes up with procedures and guidelines that will reinforce safety for both operators and pedestrians. The interested parties can be made aware of these procedures through frequent training that will ensure they are well versed with them. After the training has been done consistent follow up to get feedback on the uptake is highly recommend to improve on the grey areas.

Improved Visibility

A lot of forklift accidents can simply be reduced if both the forklift and the pedestrians are made more visible to each other. The pedestrians can do this perfectly by wearing reflective vests that ensure it is easy for the forklift operator to take note of their presence. On the other hand, the operators should also ensure that their forklifts have visibility marks that make them stand out. It is also prudent to ensure that the warehouse is well lit.

Therefore after you have monitored your warehouse and found the areas susceptible to accidents you should implement measures to prevent them. You can either use marking or barriers that limit the interaction between the pedestrians and forklifts. Erect safety signs in the risk prone areas of the warehouse. Visibility markings or wear are also important to ensure they are both visible to each other. Lastly, lay down safety procedures and ensure your staff are trained and well versed in them.

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