NIOSH Alert: Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Workers Who Operate or Work Near Forklifts

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Personal Author:
  Braddee, Richard W. ; Collins, James W.
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requests assistance in preventing injuries and deaths of workers who operate or work near forklifts. Most fatalities occur when a worker is crushed by a forklift that has overturned or fallen from a loading dock. NIOSH investigations of forklift-related deaths indicate that many workers and employers (1) may not be aware of the risks of operating or working near forklifts and (2) are not following the procedures set forth in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, consensus standards, or equipment manufacturer's guidelines. This Alert describes seven incidents resulting in the deaths of seven workers who were either operating or working near forklifts. In each incident, the deaths could have been prevented by using proper safety procedures and equipment and by following the provisions of the OSHA standards. NIOSH requests that editors of trade journals, safety and health officials, industry associations, unions, and employers in all industries bring the recommendations in this Alert to the attention of all workers who are at risk. The first edition of this Alert applied only to forklifts operated in a sitting position. However, this new edition includes a recommendation for employers and operators of stand-up forklifts with rear-entry access (see tear-out sheet and pages 6 and 7). In addition, the revised Alert contains several minor changes in wording to improve clarity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Content Notes:
  "The principal contributors to this Alert were Richard Braddee and James Collins, Ph.D., of the Division of Safety Research." - p. 8
  
  Includes bibliographical references (p. 8-9).
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Motor Vehicles Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Wounds And Injuries
• Keywords:
  Injury-prevention; Equipment-operators; Machine-operation; Forklifts; Mortality; Materials-handling-equipment; Manual-controls; Motor-vehicles; Safety-belts; Warehousing; Storage-facilities; Traumatic-injuries; Loading-docks; Safety-education; Drivers; Overloading; Equipment-reliability; Accident-statistics; Standards; Training
• Source:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001-109, 2001 Jun; :1-9
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Alert
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  12 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022141
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2003-101305
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:57721f543cfd5313571e06c587595ff84205a05c83f3806b2fd87de99062676f57a8ec7084429dcff996c77a82db63581f4598c7951af2beee0e2e8282ec19cd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/7026/cdc_7026_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 128.09 KB ]