Hazard Analysis And Risk Assessment For The Operators of Stand-up Forklifts

Past studies have indicated that the greatest risk that a forklift operator faces is the hazard of an overturning forklift crushing the operator.

This conclusion has been developed largely based on accident experience with sit-down forklifts. In contrast, this paper examines a data set of approximately 3,000 stand-up lift truck accidents (rather than sit-down forklifts) and finds that the operator of a stand-up lift is at greater risk of being involved in a collision with a stationary object than at risk for an accident involving the stability of the forklift.

Greater than 50% of the approximately 3,000 accidents studied involved a collision between a stand-up forklift and a stationary object, resulting in approximately 700 serious injuries and 22 deaths of stand-up forklift operators.

This paper will also identify the hazards associated with the use of stand-up lift trucks and the statistical likelihood of the hazard based on the approximately 3,000 accident data set.