labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The forklifts can enhance their usefulness with the installation of some accessories. These attachments can be boom extensions, drum grippers, hoppers, cylinder caddies, rug rams, drum rotators, and drum carriers. In the manufacturing industry is common to see some of these changes.

Any accessory installed modifies the safety rating of the forklift, and must be know by employers and workers. When they add attachments to the equipment, they alter the maintenance and operating instructions. The manufacturer must approve these changes and the instructions labels must be update to show the new safety procedures to be follow. For example, if we add accessories we reduce the forklift total capacity to load. The fork extension and the weight of the attachment is considers part of the load.

According to New Mexico OSHA standards, periodically must be evaluate the operator skills. They are also required to retrain from time to time. If the worker operates the forklift in a negligent manner or is involved in an accident, they are required to undergo forklift instruction again.

The incorrect operation of forklifts is the topic of a recent state publication. In the US there are about 1.5 million of forklift operators. Also known as fork trucks or Powered Industrial Trucks (PITs), the publication said that forklifts are one of the most common sources of hurts and even deaths among employees.

Although these machines are simple to use, they are a danger at work. The safety consultant author of the OSHA article recommends some ways to minimize injuries and fatalities with forklifts. The most common cause of accident is the forklift tipping over because of unbalanced load.

To reduce accidents, the OSHA standards require a special training of operators, considering four main factors. They are the operator skills, the operator’s prior knowledge, the type of forklift to operate and the dangers in the workplace.

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