Joe M,
Productivity and OSHA compliance certainly need to work in concert.
OSHA put a lot of specific items that are required to be included in the curriculum.
I think a safety booklet should stay focused on safety and let the middle managers and the "LEAN 6 SIGMA" team
pour the kool-aid at the productivity meetings.
The managers without lots of forklift work experience I have seen as instructors, need to work hard to earn the respect of the experienced operators and when the instructor starts focusing on productivity numbers the idea of safety might seem diluted.

You are right! 100%. However, the deeds must be presented in a safety book, with a follow-up of the expectations.

So if I were putting a safety book together, which I have for each and every class of lift truck, and its directed at the operators, I would want to include items, one for example, the stability triangle.

Once the participants are aware of the engineering principles and safety rules, then they can get a booklet outlining the expectations.

Just nitpicking with you.

If the intent of a "forklift safety booklet" is to inform, encourage, and/or instruct improved forklift operating, then EVERYTHING worth being said, will naturally fall into one of the three (3) categories of "influence". The three categories are taken from the "performance" literature and are well-known principles to performance engineering practitioners.

For example, the content suggestions from joseph h., "1) STABILITY, 2) Speed, and 3) Pedestrians" fit exactly into the principle of "providing clarity as to EXPECTED ACTIONS". EXPECTED ACTIONS for joseph h's number "1) STABILITY", might specify in the text of the booklet to say, for example, "carry the load as low as possible without scraping the travel surface". Or, it might say, "carry loads ONLY within the rated capacity. or, "BEFORE turning into a blind intersection, dead-stop the forklift". Or, perhaps, Stretch-wrap or band any loose load BEFORE moving it. There are many such examples that could be derived from the others writing their suggestion in this thread. Certainly, you have to agree that such text clearly informs operators of their "EXPECTED ACTIONS" (Statements of "Clear expected actions" being one of the key purposes of a forklift safety booklet).

The reason I suggested that the booklet should also be written to address supervisors and managers is that operators canNOT function well without the others acting on their important roles, too. Most of us already know this. Besides, having the booklet written to address supervision and management would fill the common void of getting everyone to see clearly what is EXPECTED of them BY EACH OTHER...thus helping to ensure that everyone is "cutting the baloney a lot thinner".

The three content items refer to informing the operator, their supervisors, and the managers as to exactly what is EXPECTED to be DONE (ACTIONS).

For principles 2) "resources needed", and number 3) "performance feedback", we could take nearly any content offerings by the other writers of this thread, and derive other specific and useful text for content of a forklift safety booklet.

I hope this is clear enough to be helpful.

Best wishes.

Joe,

Good ideas however I think that stuff should be in the company's policies and procedures, and not in a forklift safety book

I'd include three categories of "things" in a safety booklet:

1. Expected actions required of operators, their supervisors, and senior management;

2. The resources needed for safe AND productive operating (for example, forklifts in "good repair", written job-performance standards, reasonably fast access to a repair service, verified operator skills. etc.) ;

3. Performance feedback that frequently informs operators, their supervisors, and senior management of how well, or poorly, they are meeting expectations.

For more on this kind of philosophy, principles and practices, visit 3w dot LIFTOR dot com.

Best wishes.

This seems to me to come back to my youth when we learnt how to cross a road the same principle applies LOOK , LISTEN, THINK. look and listen when you are driving about and also think about the job you are doing and how it affects the others around you.

thanks for the info.......

it's not ANSI that is offering the free copy. The standards body for US forklifts currently and officially is maintained by ITSDF.
ITSDF= Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation, and at their website itsdf.org, you can download the standards as long as you agree not to resell them.
So while ANSI and ASE standards wanted something more valuable than your first born for a peek, I think ITSDF has a bit of a different focus, and seems to believe that we will all be safer if we are smarter, and that the information should be freely available to us, so we can argue the fine points...
ANSI only pointed to the ASE B56.1 standard and incorporated it by reference.

I have never seen anything offered by ANSI that was free......

I recommend you guys download the free version of the B56.1 standards, before reinventing the wheel. This covers all the items requested.

http://www.itsdf.org/pB56.asp

Hi paddy there is a Daily safety check and Maintenance logbook produced in Australia which is very good. Google OH&S logbooks and look at the range

Good morning paddyB, I agree with the items that have been stated but I would go along with Johnr_j from Georgia. Contact one of the distributors, especially ones that conduct very good Train-The-Trainer courses. They have already conducted the research and have great safety training material. Plus I have attended several training seminars that are affiliated with the National Safety Council and have received great material from them. Then after what you have received and reviewed, add your site specific requirements to make it work for your facilities. Remember, you can not take away from the federal safety requirements, but you can add items to the requirements to meet your site specific needs.

A complete copy of 1910.178
complete ifsdf b56.1
link to this forum for questions, note not to drive with ANY questions not yet answered..

Stability triangle.
Margin of safety.
A complete copy of 1910.178 (small font) for CYA.

paddyB:

1) STABILITY

2) Speed

3) Pedestrians