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The tragic death of a Utah forklift operator points up the instability of forklifts and the need for training in maneuvering the machines.

A Utah OSHA report says many forklift deaths and injuries are caused by the instability of fork trucks.

That was why the forklift operator in Utah was killed. The driver – a worker for a car dealership – was helping a nearby business to unload goods from a tractor-trailer to a pickup truck on a Friday in July. The forklift driver put a large item onto the pickup’s bed, then backed the machine up quickly, at the same time sharply turning the wheel. The fork truck flipped over on its side, throwing the worker out. The forklift’s overhead protection cage came down on him, crushing him.

OSHA received a report, investigated the incident, and determined that the driver had not received forklift operation training, that the machine had no seatbelt, and that there was no other kind of driver restraint. What’s more, when the driver put the forklift in reverse, the forks were still in the “up” position. Raised forks add to instability, and it is important that drivers lower them before putting their forklifts in reverse. The “Employer’s Guide to Material Handling Safety” states that turning the machine too sharply while the forks are up can result in the fork truck’s tipping over. It can happen even while driving slowly and without a load on the forks. If the driver had received training, the tragic accident might have been avoided.

On average, 100 workers die or are seriously hurt every year in fork truck accidents, according to statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. They were usually due to instability and many of them could have been prevented.

Forklifts appear deceptively easy to operate. Some employees expect them to operate like cars simply because they have four wheels. But that’s not the case. In fact, the rear axle is a pivot, designed to give the machine more maneuverable. Because of that, the forklift’s weight rests not on four points, but on three.

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