Forklift accidents statistics indicate forklifts present a significant hazard to people occupying the same work space.  Forklift injuries can be severe or fatal as forklifts are heavy and powerful vehicles.  As reported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health forklifts strike pedestrians everyday, and result in hundreds of deaths, and, more than 90,000 injuries annually in the United States.  The NIOSH report states that approximately every three days, someone in the United States is killed in a forklift accident.  The cost for medical and lost work production incurred because of forklift accidents is estimated to be greater than $100 million annually.  http://ohsonline.com/articles/2007/02/your-forklift-safety-zone.aspx.  While most cases involve workers compensation, there have been huge lawsuit awards made for forklift accidents caused by co-workers who are employed by third parties. 

Because of the multiples of injuries and high expenses involved, there are numerous technologies being developed today to address safety issues for industrial applications.  For example, there are laser scanners that mount on the front and back of forklifts, providing warning and safety zone areas, microwave motion sensors that detect vehicular traffic in a sensing area, audible and visual alarms that have been developed for forklifts to warn of movement, as well as infra-red communications technology which create invisible 30 foot beam that sweeps around the forklift truck whenever it’s operational.  This new technology is discussed in the February 2007 issue of Occupational Health and Safety Report.  OSHA reports that there are over one million lift-truck in operation daily.  Accidents occur when lift trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks, fall between docks, and workers are struck by moving lift trucks.

Most incidents involve property damage including damage to sprinkler heads, rackings, pipes, walls and machinery, most worker injuries as well as property damage can be attributed to the lack of safe operating procedures and lack of safety-rule enforcement.  OSHA standards require an operator to be over the age of 18, and properly trained and certified.  This is partially due to allowing inexperienced operators to be in the workplace.  The United States Department of Labor through OSHA has issued a number of standards and directives in an attempt to minimize these accident statistics. http://www.OSHA.gov/SLTC/poweredindustrialtrucks/index.html

In Indiana, the Chamber of Commerce, periodically has training conferences at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Center in Indianapolis (last being May 12, 2011) for safety training in the workplace.  If you are interested in offering forklift safety training/information, you can obtain safety training manuals, DVDs, videos, posters and training kits at http://www.OSHA-safety-training.net/.

If you’ve been injured in an industrial or construction site accident involving a forklift and you would like to have a free consultation with an experienced attorney, contact William W. Hurst.

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