I too take this topic very serious; when you have seen the worst(a fatality) 1st hand it comes naturaly. When the operator is not properly restrained and a tip over occurs it usually results in a death! Even when the operator is properly restrained head or other injuries are common. You can be the absolute best operator in the world, you can win every forklift rodeo you enter, and you can be a model operator for all to see and with that said the "human factor" still has an effect on everything. Just because an operator makes mistake does not make them dumb, incompetent, or stupid in most cases it just makes them human. (although I have seen exceptions)

Sometimes I feel like I take my job too seriously. I meticulously write out the tests and manuals. I cover off every single item in the subject matter, I don't allow any cheating, I live by strict standards and guidelines, I take a full day to train on a sit-down forklift, I maintain all records. Basically, I go by the book and more.

Maybe I am too strict. Maybe my standards are too high. Maybe I take too long. Maybe I am too serious. And I know I don't charge enough!

i am certain that i will ruffle some feathers with what i am going to say, maybe even put some of you in touch with your anger but (here goes)
lawyers make laws that make them money, when there are too many lawyers they make more laws. doctors make machines and learn new techniques to make money, when there are too many doctors they make more gadgets, more pills and in some cases even more maladies. safety trainers look for more people to train and more reasons to train them and seek to enlist the government to help with recruitment to service an industry with a surprisingly low accident rate when compared to most other ocupations...to make money.
it could be said that the less effective you are at your job the more demand for you there will be. obviously i dont want anyone hurt but how much difference does training actually make? does anyone have any research data for pre and post training statistics. yes, i am well aware that i am an a#!hole so dont feel obligated to remind me.

One of the first lessons any lifeguard , no matter how strong a swimmer they are, is taught is that you can not save a fellow man who is drowning if you are drowning yourself.
Lets not be ashamed that we must charge enough to do good work when we train, but lets all be honest enough to give a fair days work for a fair days wage.
and gee wizz, from Joseph_h's copy of the US reg, I would say that in fact, it IS tip over injuries that we hope to prevent by the use of operator restraint systems. "is intended to assist the operator in reducing the risk of entrapment of the operator 's head and/or torso between the truck and ground in the event of a tip-over."
I would also say that we should all be careful of what we really ask for, as soon enough there will be no need for forklift operators, AGVs will be the economical and technical answer to the question of how safe can we make it for the workers.

we care more about people than making a quick buck training today.

Not all trainers!

Tongue in cheek is a wonderful delusion to live under.

At one time there was a learned man with the last name of Darwin, I believe that he had a wonderful concept that was called natural selection, it worked quite well until all those "bleeding heart liberals" started to mess with it.
With natural selection only the smart ones propagated the earth, therefore all the stupid lift truck operators would die off eventually. We would then only be left with the smart ones that wore their seat belts and followed all the proper safe operating practices.

OHHHH to live in such a euphoric society.

Since we live in the real world all that we can do is rant at operators, intimidate managers with due diligence and hope that we get our message across to the one that will survive another shift because we care more about people than making a quick buck training today.

Anytime you can aid the operator keeping complete control of the forklift is a benefit to not only the operator but the pedestrian, product, and company property as well. I believe realistic additional layers of protection can help provide that control. As far as impaired reaward visibilty some manufactures such as Yale/Hyster offer a seat opition that swivels and locks to right and is designed to improve rearward visibilty. Our location has this opition on our forklifts and they work very well. I would like to here from some of the manufactures out there to see if they any opinions or ideas.

Restraint systems on forklifts in the U.S. are required to provide the forklift operator protection from body entrapment in tipover incidents.

Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks, ANSI/ITSDF B56.1-2005, (Reaffirmation of ASME B56.1-2004)

"7.41 Operator Restraint Systems
Counterbalanced, center control, high lift trucks that have a sit-down, non-elevating operator position shall have a restraint device, system, or enclosure that is intended to assist the operator in reducing the risk of entrapment of the operator 's head and/or torso between the truck and ground in the event of a tip-over. Such means shall not unduly restrict the operation of the truck, e.g., the operator's mounting, dismounting, movement, and/or visibility."

OSHA Standard Interpretations: 03/07/1996 - Use of seat belts on powered industrial trucks.

"Question 1: Are seat belts required to be installed on forklift trucks? If so, under what standard and section is this addressed?

Response: OSHA does not have a specific standard that requires the use or installation of seat belts, however, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) requires employers to protect employees from serious and recognized hazards. Recognition of the hazard of powered industrial truck tipover and the need for the use of an operator restraint system is evidenced by certain requirements for powered industrial trucks at ASME B56.1-1993 - Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks. National consensus standard ASME B56.1-1993 requires that powered industrial trucks manufactured after 1992 must have a restraint device, system, or enclosure that is intended to assist the operator in reducing the risk of entrapment of the operator's head and/or torso between the truck and ground in the event of a tipover. Therefore, OSHA would enforce this standard under Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act."

Seat belts, lap/shoulder belts, and five point devices are restraints that also provide the forklift operator additional protection from forward movement in frontal impact situations. This additional protection is desirable but not currently required.

The five point restraint device would offer the best current belt type protection for forward tipovers or frontal impacts. The five point device holds the operator securely in place from forward/sideward head/body movement and the impact forces imparted are distributed over parts of the body which can better take the impact forces. This device does, however, impair rearward visibility.

Forward tipovers occur with greater frequency with rough terrain construction forklifts, telehandlers, and container handlers due to lifting unknown weight loads or lifts of mismarked weight loads. A better solution to protect the operator from forward tipover might be onboard scale/weighing devices.

Improved safety equipment is nice. The best protection for forklift operators, however, consists of proper training and proper supervision. These are lacking in most forklift operations. Proper supervision cannot be performed unless the supervisors are also properly trained in safe forklift operations. They do not have to be skilled operators but should experience the truck visibility, handling characteristics, difficulty in stacking high loads, time a thorough pre-inspection takes, etc. as well as the basic forklift safe operation materials.

The forklift incidents mentioned in the previous posts could be a lack of proper training. They are more likely, however, the lack of proper supervision.

The purpose of accident investigation is to determine the cause of the incident to make corrections to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future. Improved safety restraint devices will not accomplish this. Adding a five point restraint might better protect the operator, but it would not stop future tipovers or forward impacts which could endanger others who are not protected from the tipover/forward impact.

You say something? j/k

Dont get me started on the lack of government intervention.

I was chatting with the Z brake instructor at the college this past weekend and the paperwork required by him to submit to the Ministry of Transport is mind-boggling. He was very surprised to hear that the Ministry of labour doesn't require any paperwork from the instructors to be submitted. And, since they don't require any paperwork, I have no idea what other people are teaching, and then I look bad when I at least try to refuse to do any refresher training for companies who have not utilized my services previously. What a mess! What a joke!

to be fair about this topic the loss of even 1 soul to a lift truck under any circumstances would be (is) horrible and any thing we can do to curtail these events we should do. that includes restraints and lots of training. where i differ in opinion from some of you is the invitation for more government involvment. nothing that the government has regulated has improved (military and public transportation excluded). there are criminal and civil laws that provide for enough leverage to make ownership of companies change hands. i beleive things are scary enough as they are. i should also point out that i am a certified operator trainer and do understand the dangers of equipment misoperation but it's not my thing (i live on the technical side) thanx for listening.

There are wives who send lunch with their husbands when they go to work? Hmmmm.interesting concept! Oh Su, you gotta come read this!

Seriously, I think you are taking things to an abnormal extreme. They are so called paid professionals and let them do their work as they have been trained to do, provided the training was significant enough to lead them down the righteous path. Anyone driving with their forks tilted forward was not taken down the right path!

And no Dave, never been to Texas, but I sure would like to get there someday. Beats the crap weather we are having here.

The human factor has to play a role in safely operating forklifts or any type of heavy equipment. Even being a pedestrian in and around this type of equipment is dangerous by design. Say your a forklift operator and just finished lunch; you had those wonderful leftovers your wife made the night before; your stomach is full and warm; you fell relaxed and little sleepy. Then the back to work alarm sounds; you climb back on your forklift and start working. This is where the human factor clashes with the mechanical factor. Is this operator in any condition to operate mobile equipment machnery? This is a bad mix and an incident waiting to happen. This is why I believe any additional protection we can provide our operators and pedestrians is important. This forum is an excellent source for us to vent, anaylize, brain storm, and listen to everyone that particpates. I am taking in all the great comments and ideas and intend to use most in a productive way.

dan, have we met? how is it that you know my life story (the racing, the burning, that liver thing) i mean "dude" it's like that twilight zone show.
on a serious note, thanks for not being offended and i am sure ed will appreciate any monetary windfall he receives. i dont know anyone that cant handle the physical stresses of counting money, i find it quite relaxing and my wife...well she finds it no matter where i hide it.

Not that it is common practice, but as long as I collect the cheque beforehand, let them toss me out.

You PLAY with matches often enough, chances are you'll get burnt. Race down city streets, eventually you'll end up dead, or the other party will.

Drink to excess, one day, your liver will be shot.

Drive with your forks tilted forward, one day, those fork ends will catch on something, and flip the truck, or at least, break the forks. Then Ed will get another cheque!

THere is no doubt that tilting the forklift mast backwards where possible is the only safe travel arrangement.
Trouble for the 6 year, 32 sit on forklift organisation is that they are assuming that 6*32 = ~ 200 years of forklift operation without injury = a safe operation.
Forklift related trauma is disproportionally serious because forklifts are heavy and hard. My best estimate is that the average chance of someone being seriously injured is around once in 300 - 1200 years of forklift driving.
So this organisation may be "living on borrowed time."
Note that in 40% of forklift fatalities I investigate the company invovled would have been considered to have high standard forklift safety policies, procedures, facilities and training. So good systems and a good record DO NOT mean they are safe.
So Dan-m reading the riot act may be appropriate.