Rob Vetter is technical director and managing partner with the Ives Training Group, in Blaine, WA, USA, a leader in North American mobile equipment training systems since 1981.
If I hear one more person squawk about use of seatbelts by forklift operators I'm going to scream. It has been more than 20 years since major manufacturers began outfitting units with seatbelts and more than 10 since the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) made it standard for manufacturers to supply them and users to use them. Still, the wail of seatbelt nay-sayers continues.
One misconception about forklift-mounted seatbelts is that many users believe they serve the same purpose as their automobile-mounted cousins, which is not the case. ANSI B56.1 does not refer to seatbelts but uses the more accurate term, active operator restraint system.
That is because the system is designed to keep the operator restrained within the cab in a tip-over, not from projecting through the windshield in a collision, like an automobile seatbelt. Restraint systems also keep operators' body parts from impacting other parts of the equipment during a collision.
The excuses I hear from non-believers have become rhetorical. For example, the driving surfaces where I work are flat. Great, however most tip-overs occur under the machine's own impetus not from operating on grades. I am on and off the machine 200 times a day. That doesn't reduce the chances of being injured or killed in a tip-over. The seatbelt keeps me from turning my butt in the seat so I can look rearward while reversing. Restraint systems and/or swivel seats are easily available to get around that.
The benefits of using seatbelts exceed the drawbacks/inconveniences many times over and, besides, it's the law.
There was a bizarre occurrence a few years back when a trainer set out to prove the folly of using seatbelts by driving a unit around in tight circles at high speed. The forklift tipped over and he was ejected. The forklift is fine, but he now has no legs. Just wear the belt ... please.