Compliance is not enough to prevent forklift underride

Advertisement
- 6 Jun 2024 ( #1182 )
1 min read

The company* complied with OSHA, but a worker still died (and another was injured).

You’re complying with all OSHA Regulations. It doesn’t mean you have a safe workplace. After a company was cited for violating OSHA’s General Duty Clause following a fatal forklift underride accident, it was able to get the violation vacated by a US Court of Appeals. 

The company did the minimum. According to the Court, it was in compliance. But it still had two underride accidents within 6 months. The first worker was severely injured. The second was killed.

The company had taken two steps to avoid forklift underride:

  1. It had trained forklift operators to always look in the direction of travel, to drive at safe speeds and to maintain proper control of the forklift.
  2. It had made the racking aisles wider than the minimum safe width for forklifts.

But the company took no additional actions, such as modifying the shelving or adding rear posts to the forklifts to make underride virtually impossible.

The goal of workplace safety must be zero accidents, not just meeting regulatory rules. If you have reach trucks and stand up forklifts, put a Backbone on them.

What is underride?

Standup Forklift Underride
Standup Forklift Underride
Standup Forklift with Rear Guarding
Standup Forklift with Rear Guarding

*The court case was Chewy, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 22-11626 (11th Cir. 2023)

 

To find out more about The Backbone, or to order, get in contact or call Norm at (+1) 416.587.5809. 

Visit www.LakeportMetalcraft.com

To learn more about impactful advertisements: download our media kit
The article on this page is supplied by and shown on behalf of an advertiser and does not in any way represent the views of Forkliftaction. The originators take full responsibility for their content. We advise you to contact the advertiser directly for any matters concerning this article.
Words of support …

The cooperation with Forkliftaction has been exceptional. It's always a pleasure to work with specialists who know the inside out of the industry

Ane Miren Elorza, Communications Specialist
Upcoming in the editorial calendar
WIRELESS CHARGING
Aug 2025
MANAGING MIXED FLEETS
Oct 2025

Are you recruiting? Find your ideal candidate among a diverse range of materials handling professionals:

Forkliftaction's JOB MARKET

Inside The News
This week Forkliftaction News is celebrating its 25th anniversary! A wonderful achievement given we launched at a time when just 6% of the world’s population were internet users, according to Internet World Stats . Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories about our history and rolling out more celebrations, so keep an eye out... Continue reading
Inside The News
This week Forkliftaction News is celebrating its 25th anniversary! A wonderful achievement given we launched at a time when just 6% of the world’s population were internet users, according to Internet World Stats . Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories about our history and rolling out more celebrations, so keep an eye out... Continue reading
Words of support …

After advertising with Forkliftaction.com, we got many enquiries regarding interest to be our distributor. Mostly from Europe and USA but including a few in ASEAN. We feel that the advertisement was useful and good for market expansion.

Lawrence Xu, Assistant Sales Manager
Forkliftaction turns 25 Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Upcoming in the editorial calendar
WIRELESS CHARGING
Aug 2025
MANAGING MIXED FLEETS
Oct 2025

Are you recruiting? Find your ideal candidate among a diverse range of materials handling professionals:

Forkliftaction's JOB MARKET

Inside The News
This week Forkliftaction News is celebrating its 25th anniversary! A wonderful achievement given we launched at a time when just 6% of the world’s population were internet users, according to Internet World Stats . Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories about our history and rolling out more celebrations, so keep an eye out... Continue reading
Words of support …

Thanks to advertising with Forkliftaction, we have received inquiries and more and more people are aware of Ningbo Ruyi Joint Stock Co.,Ltd, which fits with our company's goal to go global and let the world know more about the benefits of our Xilin brand.

Michille Shi, Vice General Manager Sales

Are you recruiting? Find your ideal candidate among a diverse range of materials handling professionals:

Forkliftaction's JOB MARKET

Upcoming in the editorial calendar
WIRELESS CHARGING
Aug 2025
MANAGING MIXED FLEETS
Oct 2025