Forklift trucks are often referred to as the single biggest safety hazard in the modern warehouse. But how many people in this business appreciate all the other symbiotic forces at work with forklifts that make the loading bay, in particular, among the most dangerous of all industrial work places? Moreover, if people are fully aware of the situation, but take a complacent view, why are they doing so and realistically can any really big improvements be expected any time soon?
The scale of industrial truck accidents remains considerable despite the many years of best efforts from safety organisations, toughened legislation, and the great strides in forklift safety improvement devices. Around 5% of all UK deaths at work involve forklifts, and every day there are four serious forklift-related accidents, of which over one quarter are major injuries, resulting in a hospital stay or even worse. While money can be part of the cost of an accident to a company’s operations, no price can be put on the misery and concerns of the victims and their families. Companies should also realise another, potentially crippling cost they could incur – reputational damage. A serious accident that delays a large shipment dispatch could mean losing a customer permanently.
Worrying though these figures may be, even more troubling are the findings from a recent report called “Silent Danger.” No less than 75% of the interviewees said that they felt that their workgroup was at risk from one or more “accidents waiting to happen.” Disturbingly, of those persons only one third said they would speak up about such dangers. This brings us to one of the main reasons why accident rates remain stubbornly high – the profit motive. As one researcher found, if there were late deliveries or more urgent shipments, then truck operators had to make up time by unloading/loading faster than normal and so that meant driving too fast and/or lowering/raising loads on the move. “We know we shouldn’t and that it creates risks, and it’s not what we were taught in our truck training,” said one interviewee, “but it’s just what happens.”
Safety-conscious truck innovators have done well to raise safety standards by fitting their trucks, for example, with speed limiters and load height restrictions while moving but these can be overridden. However, recognising that operators need a variable truck speed, faster for external work and slower for internal, Jungheinrich, for example, offers users different performance limits, changed at the flick of a switch, and illuminated by a coloured flashing beacon to show whether or not the truck is working within the required speed levels for a designated area.
What is clearly lacking is the framework for reporting bad practice and a culture in which reporting is seen as desirable, essential and in everybody’s interest, and that should include reporting near misses. Achieving that will not be easy and so realistically cutting the accident rate substantially is unlikely to be achieved any time soon. Complacent warehouse managers, however, might like to bear in mind two points: One, think along the lines that if an accident can happen, sooner or later it darn well will. Two, try putting yourself in the position of a permanently maimed accident victim and adversely impacted family life. If you wouldn’t like it to happen to you, then why risk it happening to others?
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