Brewery employees work around forklift traffic on a daily basis, and sometimes this regular exposure can lead to a false sense of comfort and safety. Developing and implementing a thorough workplace transport safety plan can help expose and control risks, while providing a proactive means of preventing potentially deadly accidents. Where to start? Use clear signage and floor markings to segregate forklift and pedestrian traffic, creating pedestrian and forklift only zones. Emphasize awareness where forklifts and pedestrians must share the area. Consider installing physical barriers and encourage clear communication between forklift operators and pedestrians. Also, ensure that audible reverse alarms and lights are properly functioning by requiring operators to conduct pre-use inspections on all forklifts. Tie it all together with thorough training. In fact, start off by watching this video, produced to assist California forklift trainers with their safety training efforts. It gives a brief, but impressive overview of forklift training procedures and methods which should be employed by craft brewers today.
A video guide to forklift safety
