Did you forget about National Forklift Safety Day on June 9th, 2020? Of course, you did! I may have missed it too if I didn’t get a reminder from Toyota Material Handling. There seems to be plenty to pay attention to lately and I think that is why we should have National Forklift Safety Day. Without a moment of observance, we might lose track of the following national statistics:
Forklifts account for around 85 deaths every year.
Forklift accidents that result in serious injury total 34,900 annually.
Non-serious injuries related to forklift accidents reach 61,800 each year.
A forklift overturning is the most common incident, accounting for 24% of all forklift accidents.
If companies implemented more stringent training policies, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that about 70% of forklift accidents in the US could be prevented.
Why are forklifts so dangerous? It is because they are on average three times heavier than a car. They travel faster than you can run. They are also lifting materials weighing more than anything you could move without a forklift. Weight and balance are very important to the safe operation of a forklift.
The good news is that there are full-service material handling companies like WD Matthews Machinery Company that can provide operator training and detailed inspections of your equipment. Our service and training comply with OSHA requirements and we can tailor our services to your specific material handling needs. It is difficult to interpret local, state, and federal rules regrading material handling. It is always safer to leave it to trained professionals. Operators can learn a lot from forklift operator safety training.
How quickly we forget that when the world came to a screeching halt the forklifts continued to move goods. Forklifts are used everyday all over the world to move material and keep supply chains up and running. Nearly everything you see has encounter a forklift at some point along the way. The need to move things all over the country is why there are over 540,000 industrial truck operators employed in the United States.
If we can get everyone to wash their hands and create safe distances, then we can get every forklift operator to perform pre-shift inspections and practice safe operation. We have learned that a few safety precautions can make a life and death difference.