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A hazardous piece of equipment. No seat belt. An unsafe maneuver. Together, these ingredients resulted in a tragic, preventable forklift accident that took the life of a forklift operator.

The forklift appears deceptively stable because it has four wheels. But it does not operate like a car. In reality it’s one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment used on a regular basis in the workplace.

A Georgia worker safety report shows that the death of a forklift operator was caused by the inherent instability of the machine. It was just one example of the many deaths and injuries every year that are related to the instability of forklifts.

In this case, the driver – who worked for a car dealership – was helping a neighboring business. The operator was moving materials from a tractor-trailer to the bed of a pickup truck. After depositing materials in the pickup, the forklift operator backed up fast and turned the steering wheel sharply. The forklift tipped onto its side. The operator, thrown from the fork truck, was crushed by the overhead cage.

The Georgia OSHA investigation report found that the driver had not received the proper training. The forklift had no seatbelt or restraining device. And the operator had left the forks in the raised position when backing up. Forklifts should never be backed up when the forks are in the “up” position. Turning sharply with the forks raised may tip the machine even with no loads and at slow speeds, say the “Employer’s Guide to Material Handling Safety.” Training could have prevented the tragedy,

Every year, an average of 20,000 workers are seriously hurt and 100 killed in forklift accidents. Forklifts are not as stable as cars, and operators should keep this in mind at all times. Even though it has 4 wheels, a fork truck does not have 4 points of stability, as cars do. The rear axle is a pivot point, a design tactic meant to make forklifts highly maneuverable. But that also means forklifts have only 3 points of stability. The result is a generally unstable vehicle.

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