Forklift Accidents

Odds are, you’ve seen them. You know, those viral forklift accident videos? A forklift takes on a load too heavy and capsizes in slow motion. A driver takes it too close to the edge of the dock and tumbles over. A pedestrian is minding his own business before getting pegged between the forks and the wall like an old episode of Tom and Jerry.

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Or perhaps the most famous of all: a forklift driver attempts to pass a pallet jack, barely nicks the rack, and the whole warehouse comes tumbling down.

Forklift accidents happen all the time in warehouses and distribution centers around the world. Whether it’s because the driver isn’t paying attention or because the proper safety mechanisms aren’t in place, a forklift accident has the potential to cause costly damages to product, equipment, and personnel.

Okay, so the odds of your facility becoming the set for the next popular forklift accident video are pretty slim. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of opportunities for something like what happened in the video above to occur in your operation. It all comes down to safety and awareness.

A few things you can do:

Ultimately, the most important step in preventing forklift accidents is creating a culture of safety and awareness. When each employee takes responsibility for his or her own safety as well as the safety of the operation as a whole, real accident prevention can begin.