OSHA Attempts To Reduce Industrial Truck Accidents

It’s one thing avoiding motor vehicle accidents on the roadways of Pennsylvania; it’s another to avoid similar accidents in the workplace. Many employees sustain injuries at work because of accidents involving powered industrial vehicles such as trucks and forklifts (“struck-bys” and “tip-overs”). Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Industrial Truck Association (ITA) formed an alliance with the primary goal of reducing the number of injuries and deaths related to powered industrial trucks. Thus, readers of this blog that work with this type of equipment should take note of the resources presently available to prevent accidents related to their use.

OSHA officials in the last few years have expressed an ongoing concern regarding the high number of industrial truck injuries that annually occur. Through the alliance, OSHA is promoting a “culture of safety,” which includes preventing workers from being crushed under heavy equipment susceptible to tipping, such as forklifts. The alliance is scheduled to last for the next five years and seeks to provide improved resources and training to enable employees to identify and prevent dangerous workplace events, and potentially life-threatening workplace dangers.

Some of the significant goals of the alliance include:

• Promoting awareness of OSHA’s Fall Prevention and Heat Campaigns;
• Sharing information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards associated with the use of powered industrial trucks;
• Expanding existing relationships between the industry and OSHA on a regional level to address current health and safety issues;
• Working with other participants in the program on important issues such as temporary worker protection;
• Developing effective workplace training to comply with current OSHA safety regulations; and
• Annually providing OSHA staff education focused on industrial truck safety and updated design and construction requirements.

Employees and employers alike must possess the necessary awareness of the serious injuries that may occur from their use of powered industrial trucks. Hopefully, the alliance between OSHA and ITA will continue long into the future and provide the affected industries with the education and resources to ensure and improve the safety of workers. Accidents will always occur in the workplace. Jointly, OSHA, professional industry organizations, employers, and employees may reduce their frequency, but rarely will they do so at a perfect 100% success rate.

Thus, workers must exercise caution and vigilance at work 100% of the time.

If you have suffered a work-related injury, including an injury from your or a co-worker’s use of an industrial truck or workplace vehicle, contact Powell Law at call (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE and you don’t pay anything unless we win.