Your forklift is a critical part of your operation, but you know what else is extremely important, too? Your warehouse itself.  And sometimes, due to normal wear and tear or (let’s be honest) neglect and willful disregard, your forklift can be your facilities worst enemy. The good news here is there are steps you can take to protect...

Productivity and safety don’t have to be adversaries, though it sometimes takes some effort to make them work together. You may be tempted to allow a damaged or compromised forklift to remain on the floor, but the fact of the matter is, there are instances where even a slightly damaged must be taken out of service. OSHA makes sure of that...

Accidents happen.  We spend a lot of time in this blog discussing the finer points of forklift operation and safety, and you hopefully offer training and education to keep your people safe, and even still – accidents happen. So we’ve covered what to do before an accident – but what can you expect after an accident happens in your...

It’s a difficult question to ask a forklift operator after an accident. Was the incident a result of the driver not knowing the proper procedure or being willfully ignorant of the safety regulations?  It is, however, an important distinction. Making sure your operators, and anyone who works around a forklift, is aware of the correct safety...

Here’s the thing about common injuries.  Most are preventable.  A little common sense goes a long way, and forklift operators can do a lot of things to prevent many of the injuries commonly associated with forklifts and the environments in which they operate. Of course, accidents do happen, but continuous training and safety awareness are...

In part one of this two-part series, we ran through the occupations and facilities that are most likely to involve exposure to silica dust- the potentially dangerous by-product of crushing, drilling or cutting concrete and other materials.  Long-term exposure to silica dust can cause serious and sometimes fatal lung conditions and you should read...

These next two blog entries may, or may not, apply to the work your facility does – but it’s really important on several levels so it’s worth spending the time on. Federal regulations about the handling of silica dust in the workplace are changing, and if you haven’t already, you’re going to need to adjust quickly. Silica dust is...

Even with daily inspections and regular maintenance, forklifts will experience occasional failures of varying severity. In the event of milder equipment trouble, the temptation may exist to keep the unit in service, to tempt fate in the name of efficiency or production. We can’t emphasize the next four words enough: Don’t ever do...

We talk a lot about safety in your facility, and one of the tools you can use to help keep your warehouse as safe as it can be is multiple colors of floor tape, to mark off areas and keep your people, your equipment, and your materials far from harm. Here are some suggestions you can start using today to make your facility safer: Use different...

Like any piece of heavy equipment, there are rules and regulations that affect the operation and maintenance of aerial work platforms as well. The regulations set forth by the American National Standards Institute require an annual inspection of your platform every year. The inspection must be performed by a qualified technician who has...