The Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 851, Industrial Establishments has the following sections that may be of use:

Premises, Section 17, sets the minimum width for a walkway: 17) "A fixed walkway, service stair or stile shall be at least fifty-five centimetres in width." This equates to approximately 22 inches.

Premises, Section 12, sets a standard of performance to be achieved.: 12) "Clearances between a moving part of any machine or any material carried by the moving part of the machine and any other machine, structure or thing shall be adequate to ensure that the safety of any worker in the area is not endangered."

Section 12 was probably intended for fixed machinery. Since machine is not defined in the regulation, it could be construed that a forklift is a machine and is covered by the above rule. This rule still gives the performance standard that you are trying to achieve. Establish adequate aisle clearance to avoid pedestrian or operator endangerment.

Definitions, Section 1, will be adding the definition of "adequate" effective 09/30/06: 1) "In this Regulation, Note: On September 30, 2006, section 1 is amended by adding the following definitions: "adequate", when used in relation to a procedure, plan, material, device, object or thing, means that it is, (a) sufficient for both its intended and its actual use, and (b) sufficient to protect a worker from occupational illness or occupational injury; "Adequately" has a meaning that corresponds to the meaning of "adequate"."

A prudent person would not find the minimum walkway width plus the width of widest truck or widest load (whichever is greater) to be adequate for a one way traffic aisle or adequate if doubled for a two way traffic aisle. Such figures may yield clearance for movement or travel, they do not give adequate clearance for protection from the potential hazards.

Some of the potential hazards of pedestrian forklift combined traffic include: struck by/caught under/caught between falling load, struck by/caught under/caught between overturning forklift, struck by/caught between/caught under traveling forklift(s), struck by/caught between rearward swing.

After completing a detailed risk assessment, you may want to consider one way forklift traffic aisles and designated pedestrian only traffic aisles. Such items may be an initial inconvenience but the impact on your operation will be less than the impact of a serious injury or fatality. Some firms that have adopted this approach indicate an improvement in productivity and safety.