Food Logistics

JAN-FEB 2015

Food Logistics serves the entire food supply chain industry with targeted content for manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.

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Want A Safer Warehouse? Start With Forklift Users • With modern day warehouses expanding up instead of out, today's newest lift trucks are designed to lift heavier loads to higher rack positions. Image courtesy of Crown Equipment. SECTOR REPORTS W A R E H O U S I N G : L I F T T R U C K W hen it comes to lift trucks and safety, it's all about the operator. The statistics alone tell the story. There are an estimated 6 million lift trucks/forklifts currently in use world- wide, about 856,000 just in the U.S., and according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are 100,000 accidents reported every year resulting in 94,750 injuries and 85 fatalities. Overall, one in every six work- place fatalities are related to forklifts. When you factor in the statistics from the National Safety Council that state that 70 percent of those 100,000 forklift and indus- trial accidents per year are operator-induced, it becomes clear rather quickly that safety begins and ends with the operator. When you see a very rough estimate of $135 million of immediate costs associated with forklift accidents, and that's not even considering insurance, OSHA fines and loss of inventory, those kind of huge costs make operator safety crucial to every warehouse that relies heavily on lift trucks for daily operations. Since lift trucks are the lifeblood of mate- rial handling operations, and with the timely flow of goods so important to profit margins, it's easy to understand why keeping workers and operators happy and comfortable means keeping the facility safe. A recent study con- ducted for Toyota Industrial Equipment illustrates the fact that operator comfort is starting to drive forklift purchases. When asked what is the most important safety feature influencing their decision, almost as many purchasers said operator comfort (95 percent) as they did stability (96 percent) and weight distribution and balance (97 percent). Using data to manage a fleet of lift trucks pinpoints the safety issues, but keeping the operator comfortable means keeping everyone safe. by Eric Sacharski 36 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 • FOOD LOGISTICS www.foodlogistics.com

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