According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) there are approximately 68,400 accidents a year in the United States involving industrial equipment. And most of these relate to the use of forklifts.
In USA, can we infer that perhaps the incidence of accidents is higher?
Many accidents can be caused by poor operation, poor training, adverse working conditions and insufficient maintenance. Can we assume that in our country these conditions are inferior to those in the “first world”?
In any case, there’s usually something simple and low-cost that we can implement if we’re creative and up-to-date on industry best practices.
The Two Biggest Factors of Forklift Accidents
When we analyze the stratification of the types of accidents in forklifts, we observe that being run over and overturned are the two biggest factors and account for 44% of accidents.
1) Running over: 18%
2) Registration: 26%
For these two items I would like to share two simple and cost-effective solutions that are fortunately becoming more and more common in forklift fleets.
1) Anti-run over solution
About 18% of forklift accidents occur when an employee or other person is walking and is hit by a forklift. Pedestrians in an industrial environment are often busy with other tasks and are not fully aware of the approaching vehicle. Forklifts use gyro flex and reverse alarms that assist in this function of warning pedestrians. However, if someone walks looking at the ground, absorbed in a spreadsheet or smartphone, the gyro flex are almost innocuous. To overcome this deficiency, the Blue Safety Light for forklifts was launched on the market. The concept is as simple as it is functional and the video below leaves no doubt about the usefulness of this feature:
2) Anti tipping solution:
About 26% of forklift accidents are the result of tipping over, usually due to overloading. Managers eager to increase efficiency at the expense of safety encourage excess loads that can cause the forklift to tip over. In addition to the machine tipping over, there is a risk of workers being pressed against the loads when these loads fall.
The on-board scale feature is an OEM option on most new forklift models, but there is still a huge fleet of older equipment without load control that could benefit from the on-board scale.
This is a market in which we operate directly and fortunately, even in the current scenario of economic and investment restrictions, we have noticed a growing demand for forklift scales. The most common is that the investment is made for process control, but work safety receives a huge side benefit with this accessory.
What problems can the company face when accidents at work occur?
The time has come to understand what consequences your company may face in the event of work-related accidents involving forklifts. Check out.
Immediate stoppage of activities:
Immediately, the main consequence for the company is the stoppage of activities. That’s because, when an accident happens, all the collaborators around leave their duties to help the colleague or even observe what happened.
Although nothing serious has happened, many processes will not be executed due to the accident.
Payment of fine:
When an accident at work occurs, in addition to providing all assistance to its employee at the time, the company has up to the 1st working day to report the situation to the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
If this rule is not complied with, the employer is liable to pay fines stipulated by the government.
Highest value of INSS:
All companies receive a risk rating according to their main activities. If work accidents occur repeatedly, the level can increase from mild to medium or even severe. For benefits of forklift click here
Among other things, the increase in the classification means an increase in the amount of INSS collected by the company, with the extinction of the cost of work-related accident expenses.
Payment of salary and taxes:
If the employee suffers an accident at work and is away for up to 15 days, the company must pay the employee’s normal salary.
On the other hand, if the period exceeds two weeks, the worker is sent for inspection by the INSS, but with the company still being responsible for collecting the FGTS. In other words, in addition to hiring a new professional, the organization must continue to contribute with mandatory taxes.
Observing these tips on how to reduce forklift accidents in practice and understanding what the most common accidents are, as well as the direct consequences, your company will surely prevent itself in the best possible way and avoid any kind of unwanted situation.
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