labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Fork trucks, or forklifts, are popular tools in a wide variety of industries.  These machines are known for their capacity and usefulness when it comes to loading and unloading manufactured goods.  What some people are not aware is that, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, they are much less stable than other vehicles and cause a significant number of accidents and deaths every year.

Anyone who operates a fork truck should be properly trained.  It seems like common sense, but the fork truck is a machine that could be quite dangerous if not handled with extreme care.  Actually, the most careful individual may not even know how to use one safety, and therefore only trained professionals should use them.

It is a common misconception that fork trucks can be driven like cars.  Yes, it is true that a fork truck has four wheels just like a car, but the amount of balance and stability is not the same.  You see, a fork truck’s rear axel rotates and turns.  Unlike a car, the rear can stay in one place as the front moves.  This means that there are only three rest points for the weight on a fork truck, not four like the wheels on a car.

Other differences include the load size, attachments added for maneuverability, and the very obvious forks that carry the load.  It may seem like simple logic to handle it differently than a car, but many people make this mistake every year.  It is sometimes the cause of fatal accidents.

The California worker safety reports indicate that the instability of fork trucks can be directly linked to many injuries and deaths that occur in the workplace.  Each load needs to be placed properly on the forks.  Sometimes, is the load is light or very heavy it will actually have to be placed differently on the forks.  It is a balancing act.  When driving a car, you don’t need to worry about a light person sitting in the back throwing off the balance of the car.  Weight distribution and balance are crucial factors in operating fork trucks.

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