EastCoast HR are focused on sharing information that can help ensure you have a healthy and safe workplace – Staff Morale, Team Culture, Mental Health, Workplace Safety and Personal Wellness are all key elements to success. Follow our Wednesday Feature for top tips and helpful info about what can make your workplace, and even yourself personally, happier, healthier and safer!
5 Steps for safe Forklift Operations
Today we want to talk about staying safe in the workplace when operation a Forklift.
On average each year 281 workers’ compensation claims are accepted for crush injuries involving forklifts. Forty per cent of these involve serious injuries requiring five or more days off work.
Here are some simple steps to keep your operators and team safe:-
- Training & Supervision – A person who operates a forklift must hold a high risk work forklift licence.
- Traffic Management / Awareness – most forklift incidents involve pedestrians. You should make sure there are clear, separate pathways for pedestrians and forklifts. High visibility work wear should be worn if walking outside of designated walkways. Businesses should minimise blind spots and highlight intersections and restricted areas. If there is a right-of-way, make sure that everyone is aware of it.
- Using seatbelts! Seatbelts and other restraint systems should be used when they are provided unless a risk assessment indicates it is not safe to do so and other risk controls are implemented. Seatbelts keep you in the cab during a tip over and prevent you from being thrown from your seat. Manufacturers’ operating manuals include a warning to use seatbelts.
- Personal protective equipment – high-visibility or reflective clothing for pedestrians and employees operating forklifts, and high-visibility markings on forklifts
- Load Control – Employers and supervisors should understand how loads and loading are being controlled, how to read load capacity data plates, as well as the capacity of the forklift and why not to exceed it.
For further information please contact EastCoast HR, we are happy to complete a Safety Audit or view the Worksafe website: https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/
