Every day, forklift operators have a commitment to safety and protection for themselves and those around them.  Toyota forklifts have overhead guards designed to help protect operators from falling objects and other obstructions in your facility.

Since their development in the 1960’s, forklift overhead guards have helped to protect operators from falling packages, boxes, and bagged materials. The overhead guard itself is a cage-like sturdy structure covering the overhead of the operator. It is designed with small openings as to not obscure the operators view when looking up to place and retrieve loads. Per OSHA requirements and ANSI standards, they are required for the protection and safety of the forklift operator.

While overhead guards are a vital safety asset to any forklift machine, they are not meant to protect against every possible impact.  For example, in the event of a falling capacity load, the support of the overhead guard structure that received the heaviest loading is designed to absorb energy and deform to deflect the falling capacity load. This is a hazardous situation for an operator, as falling loads are unpredictable. Therefore, the specific training and safety procedures and protocol in your facility should be adhered to and overhead guards are not a substitute for good judgment and care in load handling. A daily inspection of the overhead guards to check for anything broken, damaged, or missing could help to prevent serious accidents. Some additional helpful safety measures in overhead guard usage include:.

• Wear a hard hat for additional overhead protection when applicable.

Certain industries require hard hat usage when operating forklifts. You should analyze your facilities and application to see whether this is a necessary precaution.

• Always keep hands,feet and other body parts inside the forklift

Falling objects could come from any direction. It’s vital to keep your whole body within the bounds of the forklift and under the overhead guard. The overhead guard is intended for protection while an operator is within the confines of the seat.  Also, operators are prohibited from operating forklifts with their hands, arms, feet, legs or any other body parts around the overhead guard supports or while outside the overhead guard.

• Never try to fix an overhead guard without professional help

Always reach your local dealer with assistance repairing or replacing an overhead guard. It is against OSHA requirements to use a forklift with a damaged overhead guard.

• Get any additions approved by your manufacturer

Any modification to the forklift including its overhead guard that alters the specs of the forklift can cause potential hazards. You are required to get manufacturer approval before making alterations to the forklift including its overhead guard that affect safe forklift operation.

Original Post: Anna Harris, TMHU Marketing Intern

Warehouse receiving areas are some of the busiest places in a supply chain. Because of the variables involved with receiving such as unknown personnel (truck drivers) in your warehouse, the irregularity of goods received, and changing storage needs after product is received, this area in any operation can be very difficult to standardize. Amidst the controlled chaos of a receiving area, open dock doors that are not actively being used to unload a truck pose particular hazards for forklift operators and pedestrians. A lack of awareness of open dock doors can lead to dangerous situations that were more than likely preventable. Remembering a few important points about dock door safety might help increase safety while also maintaining as much efficiency as possible.

Reminders for Dock Door Safety

As an Operator, You Might Easily Back Off of One if You’re Not Paying Attention.

Even if you don’t see them in front of you, open dock doors are still there. It’s a major disaster if, in the middle of operating a forklift to handle material in the receiving area, an operator backs out an open door. Remember that awareness of what is behind you is key in maintaining dock door safety. Some dock levelers can be upgraded to automatically fold up into a protective barrier to help prevent the possibility of back off.

As a Pedestrian, You Might Easily Fall Off of One if Proper Precautions Are Not Taken. 

OSHA standards require that wall opening with a drop of more than 4 feet must be chained off, roped off, or otherwise blocked off. If this precaution is not taken, distracted pedestrians might walk off open docks, potentially being harmed in the fall and being left vulnerable in a busy receiving area where trucks are moving in and out. While ropes or chains meet the OSHA requirement for block off, heavy duty safety barriers can also be purchased (many times from certified Toyota dealers).

As a Pedestrian and Operator, You Might Easily Forget that Trucks Will Eventually Fill the Door. 

Dock doors are places where product is moved in quickly. Not every worker in an environment will know exactly when a truck will arrive. When working around a dock door, you must remember that semis are going to be pulling into those spaces, and drivers won’t always have the best visibility when backing in. Therefore, it is the responsibility of forklift operators and pedestrians to stand clear when a semi is arriving.
 

Original Post:  Jake Stewart, Digital Content Copywriter, Toyota Material Handling, USA