The cost of industrial accidents caused by equipment reaches into the billions in the United States. Businesses experience different losses and so do their employees. Many of these accidents happen simply because of lack of awareness about how to operate equipment properly and secondly because of lack of awareness about proper safety parts and training. Safety features like warning safety devices do not come with all forklifts and are not required by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to be attached to forklifts. Safety parts are considered important depending on the environment they operate in. However, in many cases people do not consider safety accessories to be important. For instance, if the forklift is operating in a small warehouse with a small number of people, the business owner might not think that investing in safety devices for the forklift is important.
A qualified and trained operator is key to a safe forklift operation. Of all the industrial truck accidents that happen annually, inadequate or lack of training causes 20% to 25% of them. Operators should be educated well about the machine they are required to operate and also the environment they will be working in. Hazards associated with working in a particular environment should be clearly communicated so that the operator is fully aware of his work surroundings. Another important thing to fully understand are the safety features of the forklift being used. Different kinds of forklifts have different safety features, some come with extra safety features attached and some do not. Horns, beepers, lights should be well inspected and installed according to the lifting environment.
To ensure that all components of a forklift are working optimally, regular inspections are crucial. Operators need to ensure that they conduct daily inspections of parts such as tires, forks, guards, back-up beepers, brakes, steering and other parts that are used regularly. A more in depth inspection should be performed bi-weekly to avoid any accidents. Any part thought to be defective or in need of repair should be taken care of immediately as it poses a big safety hazard. Every business that owns or rents forklifts should have a go-to forklift repair/service and parts partner in the vicinity.
A forklift in need of a repair or a new part is useless till it is completely fit to be working again. Businesses can lose precious productivity time if their machine cannot be used or even worse, they can experience costly accidents if they allow their operators to use a substandard forklift. Ace Equipment passionately believes in providing its partners with the best for their lifting needs. We provide different varieties of forklifts, after sales services for forklifts, rental forklifts and also any forklift part you might be looking for in Dallas, Forth Worth and Arlington. Our expert team can help you choose the best forklift for your lifting needs and also help you make your lifting experience as safe as possible by showing you different safety part options. Contact Ace Equipment today to get the safest and best forklift for your needs!
