Workplace Ground Rules

afs-workplace-ground-rulesWorkplaces are like baseball stadiums.  Stick with us on this.

They’re similar in function, but every one of them has quirks that sets them apart from the others, and necessitates the establishment of ground rules that are unique to each park.

For example, the old Tiger Stadium at the corner of Michigan and Trumball avenues in Detroit had a flagpole in center field.  Not at the fence in center field, or just outside the fence in center field.

In center field. In the field of play. Fielders had to know it was there and play around it. (Editor’s Note: The flagpole is the only part of Tiger Stadium that is still standing.)

Your workplace may look on the surface like every other workplace in the country, but there are some quirks that only you know about, right? Narrow aisles, uneven floors, that one corner where you have to watch your forklift’s speed…

Maybe you have a concrete warehouse floor but want to operate your forklift in an unpaved portion of your loading dock, too- or some of your aisles are wide, but some are narrow.

With this in mind, is there a one-size-fits-all answer for forklifts that makes one lift usable in every condition?

The easy answer is no. There isn’t.

Let’s start with the operating surface question. Here in the US, we love our concrete warehouse floors. In just about every other country in the world, warehouse floors are either unpaved or extremely uneven and rough.  So most of the non-marking solid rubber tires sold in the world are sold in the US. If your lot outside of your facility is uneven or unpaved, you’re going to need another lift with pneumatic tires.

Wide and narrow aisles?  Any lift can maneuver in a wide open space, but only a few can manage in a narrow aisle.  Either unify the width of your aisles if you can or you’re going to need multiple types of lifts for each type of aisle.

The bottom line here is that there is no one type of lift for every situation or condition.

Check with us if you have any questions. There’s not much we haven’t seen and we can talk you through just about any situation.