"There was certainly contact between the person and the forklift.."

This photo is used to illustrate the size of the forktruck in this incident. This particular forktruck was not involved in this incident nor was the company listed in the background involved in anyway.

Moveable equipment is one hazard which is found in every plant in our industry. This hazard is unique when compared to all the other hazards our plants deal with because they can be located in one spot and the next minute in another spot. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has a recent story that emphasizes the continued need for moveable equipment safety education:

An investigation is being carried out at the aluminium smelter in the United Kingdom after a visiting lorry driver was injured in an accident involving a 16 tonne forklift truck during the week of July 27, 2014.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is also involved and confirmed that it was “making initial inquiries”.

The man, who has not been named, was taken to the town’s hospital by ambulance suffering from pelvic injuries following the incident on the aluminium smelter site.

It is understood that he was later transferred to another hospital 100 km away, but no information was available regarding his condition.

A reliable source said the man had been crushed between the lorry he was driving and the forklift while aluminium ingots were being loaded onto his vehicle. A spokesman for the company confirmed that there had been an incident involving a visiting lorry driver and a 16 tonne forklift truck belonging to aluminium smelter, but he would not confirm that the man had been crushed.

He said: “There was certainly contact between the person and the forklift and I believe he has a broken pelvis. “We are conducting an internal investigation into the incident and informed HSE, although we did not have to do that as he is not employed by us. “It is unfortunate that this happened but, on the other hand, it is quite fortunate as I think it could have been worse.”

He added that they had been loading 12 tonne ingots that were to be transported when the accident happened early one afternoon during the week of July 27, 2014. A spokeswoman for HSE said it was aware of the incident and was making initial inquiries.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays for a quick and full recovery for the physical and mental injuries the lorry driver suffered in this incident. The APSB hopes that the forktruck driver is offered counseling.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has useful information pertaining toward workplace pedestrian traffic. It can be viewed here:

The Health & Safety Executive (H&SE) has some great information about separating pedestrians and vehicles in the workplace. It can be viewed here:

The Worksafe BC (Worker’s Compensation Board of British Columbia) is a great organization that has lots of useful safety information ranging on all sorts of workplace hazards. The APSB noticed this video and thought the reader might find it educating. Watching it will give you a new perspective when walking near a forktruck.

The APSB editors have a rule, never, ever walk behind a fork truck. 

Mitigating the interaction between pedestrians and forktrucks is a daily chore in our plants. Some plants have taken the initiative to eliminate the pedestrian/moveable equipment interaction whenever and wherever possible.

The Aluminium Times magazine had an article discussing the relationship of moveable equipment and pedestrians last year. It can be viewed below.

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