Sounds to me like operator error. At one shop I worked at years ago, they would suspend guys from driving forklifts if they had repeat incidents. A month of pushing a broom helped wonders. Of course, re-training never hurts.

Hi, I think our systems can help on different levels starting from
"Easy" version (acoustic and visual alarms only) to "Mini" one (eventually providing slowdown and stop).
You can check out our product range on http://sis.cypag.com

One of my largest customer was having problems with damages caused by Forklifts and started putting up video cameras in the areas where most of the damages accured. They found alot of the damages were caused by drivers talking on phones and talking to by standers. Basicly not paying attention. Showing it on video to your associates after it happens is by far the best medicine.

Or wireless speed control system, that automatically reduces the machines speed when in areas that impacts are of concern. When machine leaves the area the speed automatically re enables back to normal speed limitations

I can provide you with a wireless control solution, when forklift gets closer than programed range from the post an alarm will activate on the forklift or on the post as well you can optionaly shut the machine off untill a manager resets the machine with a hand held remote seaportsolution.com

Yea. I'd suggest some retraining maby.

Wireless Proximity safety and wireless automatic speed control technologies

Our most recent customers are becoming aware of the requirements concerning company accountability for the safety of their employees. This system allows for the automatic notification of either personnel and or other machines in the immediate vicinity of the machine they are in control of.

In one of our customers large outdoor production facilities the amount of heavy equipment and large truck traffic including the presence of people walking, was of great safety concern for both the operators as well as pedestrians, to know when their safety and health was potentially being compromised was a very real issue. Now with all of their equipment being fitted with our M2M / M2P alert systems as well as personal tags, all of the people working on the site are now aware of everyone else wirelessly / automatically.

Wireless proximity and wireless proximity automatic speed control systems are available
I have been designing and engineering wireless safety solutions for the last 5 years, using the latest products available for the overall improved safety of the material handling industries

There's a couple of different Impact Sensor devices such as Shockwatch or G-Force that you can buy from any of your local forklift dealers. It depends on how in-depth you want to get as to which of either one of these that you are interested in. Either one can show you at the time of impact, who was operating lift, how hard the impact was. You can also have them completely shut down the machine and have to be reset by supervisor. Also either one can give you fleet reports too.

Let's sit the operator down and have a robust discussion regarding his obligations to his family first. In this way we might facilitate a natural sequence of responsibilities leading to better conduct during each shift. Building columns are designed to withstand some impact, yes, but society is less tolerant. Refresher training 'is' a slap on the rist, if a workplace breach has occured, repeatedly. Sit him/her down at work with their life partner and 'go over' the rules again. See how the Minister for Internal Finances and Home Activities (operator's wife/husband) reacts to this. The operator might improve after such a special meeting. One may assume.

At ProMat this year I looked at a system from Keytronics who mfg's forklift monitoring systems. I was impressed with the fact that this system goes beyond the general impact monitor and can notify of an impact by email notification, this is just a small example of the systems capabilities. I am ordering the Keytronic system on our next new machine and will put it to the test. Keep in mind any system is only as good as your company's policies.

One of my customers just got so fed up with forklifts hitting posts, overhead doors, and each other, installed surveillance cameras. Someone's job is to watch operations. Anyone hitting something is given 3 days off, no pay, to think about how to drive better. A 5 year employee just spent Tues.- Thurs. at home.

Many valid suggestions by many professionals and our friend, who seems to have tried everything, is still troubled.

Simple! Besides all else, hit them in their wallets. Everytime they strike a column, fine them, 2,3,5 dollars. Collect the money and use it for a company summertime bRbque or Christmasy thingy. Keeps you out of trouble with the union, should keep everyone from driving into the columns. And I am serious!

Jeff,
Tried to put it in and it would not let me, see my profile and there is my company just put sales in front of rack with no space protect and then a com afterwards

Andrew - you're email ?

Jeff,
I have recently seen and evaluated a product that might help you with your problem.It is not available in the USA/CA market yet and wee are looking for test sites to see if it would eliminate this specific problem.It works extremely well at Aisle ends but we get a lot of calls for your type problem. Please contact me directly for more info.
Not wishing to be mysterious but it is still patent pending.
Andrew Jordan take out the no spam
NO SPAM ([email address removed])

The driver is not allowed to operate until the investigation is complete, the UA has cleared, and they have passed recertification as a forklift operator. If they have three or more incidents with-in a year they are then evaluated by the management lead team. It has been effective for us but it comes down to setting an example by staying with-in the policy we have set forth which could be anything from retraining to termination.

In the event one of your drivers has an accident, what steps do you take ? Is the driver pulled off the truck, is there "re-training", discipline, etc. ?

I think limiting the speed has helped us to a point. We also have incident investigations that involve several people, offending department lead, UA, and recertifications. One other thing we do is keep a metric of all forklift damage with a $ amount to each incident and then share that with our lead team. The SPA for that is our maintenance department who eventually see the reported or not reported damage. The bottom line for us is accountability at the department lead and first line supervisor levels. The first year we started our metric tracking we had $70,000 worth of damage the very next year it dropped $22,000. It takes time and dedication to accomplish this but; it has paid off with less damage, safer environment for our operators, and pedestrians, and a real cost savings as a bonus.

We have governed the trucks speed as you have. I don't think speed is the problem. I think it comes down to drivers being focused and aware of their surroundings. We are currently revising our forklift policy with the intent to improve how we deal with accidents/incidents.