Powered Industrial Trucks - Forklifts

Hazards and Solutions

Occupational safety and health information that applies to specific activities related to powered industrial trucks is also available, including: Loading and Unloading, Working with Hazardous Materials, and Vehicle Maintenance.

Hazards

• Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Workers Who Operate or Work Near Forklifts. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001-109 (Alert), (June 2001). Includes forklift fatality data, current standards, case reports and recommendations, and instructs workers in the steps they may take to protect themselves.
• Youth and Labor: Hazardous Jobs. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Provides links to federal and state sites related to hazardous occupations for young workers.

Case Studies

• Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Includes reports on investigations of fatal occupational injuries.
  • Fatal Accident Summary Report: Struck and Crushed By a Backing Forklift While Cleaning Up an Auto Salvage Yard. FACE 8418.
  • Order Selector Dies After Jumping 16 Feet From an Elevated Pallet on an Overturning Forklift in South Carolina. FACE 9124.
  • Press Operator Dies After Forklift Rams Scrap Bin - North Carolina. FACE 9604.
  • Supply Motorman Killed by Load Falling from a Forklift. FACE 8412.
  • Seventeen-Year-Old Warehouse Laborer Dies After the Forklift He Was Operating Tipped Over and Crushed Him - Arizona. FACE 2002-02.
  • Seventeen-Year-Old Laborer at Salvage Lumber Operation Crushed by Forklift That Tipped Over - New York. FACE 2000-22.
  • Sixteen-Year-Old Laborer At a Building Supply Center Crushed by Forklift That Tipped Over - Ohio. FACE 2000-09.

Solutions

• Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklift). OSHA eTool. Provides information on OSHA's Powered Industrial Truck requirements [29 CFR 1910.178] and industry best practices.
• Longshoring and Marine Terminals: Hazard and Abatement Summaries. OSHA. Consists of guidesheets that address the most frequent sources of fatalities in the maritime cargo-handling industry, including forklift truck operations.
• Standup Forklift Under-ride Hazards. OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB), (July 27, 2009).
• Protecting Young Workers: Prohibition Against Young Workers Operating Forklifts. OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB), (September 30, 2003). Informs employers that youth employment regulations (29 CFR 570) promulgated under the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibit most employees under the age of 18 years from operating forklifts for non-agricultural operations and reminds employers that all forklift operators must be trained and certified.
• Materials Handling and Storage. OSHA Publication 2236, (Revised 2002)
• Shipyard Industry. OSHA Publication 2268, (1998).
• Worker Safety Series - Warehousing (PDF). OSHA Publication (OSHA Pocket Guide). Includes a section on forklift hazards and solutions.
• Public Warehousing and Storage (PDF). OSHA Industry Profile. Includes information related to forklifts in the public warehousing and storage industry.
• Fact Sheet No. 1: Ensuring Pedestrian Safety Around Power Industrial Trucks. OSHA and the NSC Alliance, (May 2011). The Alliance participants developed a fact sheet addressing pedestrian safety around power industrial trucks, including tips on how pedestrians can protect themselves.
• Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Workers Who Operate or Work Near Forklifts. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001-109 (Alert), (June 2001). Includes information on forklift fatality data, current standards, case reports, recommendations, and instructs workers in the steps they may take to protect themselves.