Category: Equipment and Machinery Safety

Got Forklift Questions? We’ve Got Answers

OSHA’s Powered Industrial Truck standard (29 CFR 1910.178) establishes safety requirements relating to the design, maintenance, and use of forklifts as well as the training and evaluation of forklift operators. Compliance with the regulations, however, often raises important questions. Here are some that have been fielded by BLR’s safety experts. Does OSHA require a specific […]

Lockout/Tagout: Who Needs to Know What?

Yesterday we looked at the 10 steps OSHA requires authorized lockout/tagout (LOTO) employees to follow. Today we turn to the LOTO standard’s training requirements and look at a tool that takes the pain out of providing LOTO training. As we discussed yesterday, OSHA’s LOTO standard (29 CFR 1910.147) requires you to train three groups of […]

10 Steps to Ironclad Lockout/Tagout Protection

Every year workers are injured, maimed, or killed in grisly accidents because they fail to disconnect the power source of machinery they’re repairing or servicing—or because a co-worker restarts the equipment prematurely. The truly sad part is that these accidents can be prevented simply by understanding and following OSHA’s lockout/tagout (LOTO) standard. The LOTO standard […]

Are Your Forklift Operators Due for Retraining?

Yesterday we looked at the growing number of forklift-free workplaces, including some of the advantages they offer and some of the obstacles to a smooth conversion. But most facilities won’t be getting rid of their forklifts any time soon, so today we’ll look at OSHA forklift training requirements and at a tool that will help […]

Is ‘Forklift-Free’ in Your Future?

Forklifts have long been the workhorses of production plants and warehouses, but there is a growing trend toward forklift-free work areas, fueled by proponents’ claims of increased safety, cost savings, and flexibility. It’s hard to picture production plants without forklifts ferrying materials to assembly lines, but that is becoming the case in an increasing number […]

Forklift Safety: Buckle Up—And Train

Forklifts certainly look safe enough, with those sturdy rollover cages surrounding the driver’s area. But those same cages can prove deadly if drivers don’t follow safety procedures; in particular, wearing their seat belts. The National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system found that of the 1,021 forklift-related deaths between 1980 and 1994, 22 percent were […]

Partner with Employees for Forklift Safety

Forklifts are the workhorses of many warehouses, and both employers and forklift operators must do their parts to ensure their safe operation. The forklift is one of a variety of industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines, and it is probably the most widely used in general industry. Requirements for both employers […]

Lockout/Tagout Safety Essentials

It’s easy to assume that machines are safe once they have been shut down. But that assumption often leads to tragedy. Here are some key aspects of OSHA’s lockout/tagout standard that can help safeguard your workforce Veteran safety professionals know that simply turning off or unplugging a machine before maintenance, repairs, or retooling is not […]

How to Drive Home Forklift Safety Training

Forklifts are an essential part of many industrial operations, but they are also involved in 10 percent of all serious industrial accidents every year. Here’s a way to make your forklift safety training unforgettable. Yesterday’s Daily Advisor explored the many sources of potential accidents and injuries in the warehouse environment, as well as some tips […]

Is Your Warehouse a ‘Scarehouse’?

From splinters on wooden pallets to improperly operated forklifts, warehouses are a hotspot for workplace accidents and injuries. Here are some commonsense, good housekeeping, and material handling tips to help protect your workforce. No matter how neat and orderly your warehouse may appear, the trained safety eye can see that it is rife with opportunities […]