With Spring fast approaching, it feels like the right time to focus on cleaning!
Cleanliness should take priority in a safety program right along side of training and awareness! The obvious prevention of accidents of the personal nature: slip/fall prevention, injury prevention, etc., are the first and obvious benefits of a clean and organized facility, along with an increase in productivity with "everything in it's place" ready to go.
Now how about the material handling equipment?
I have previously mentioned issues with running over items (pallet banding/shrinkwrap, for instance) that are in the path of this equipment. Now I will point out the benefits of keeping your equipment as clean as possible - with the understanding that some working environments are opposite of "clean", it is to your benefit to do the best you can and find better ways when possible.
Starting from the top of a forklift, for example, the view through the overhead guard to the extended mast should be clear (OSHA 1917.43 (e) (1) (ii)), no makeshift covers that block the view are allowed. (ClearCaps' meet the requirement and are easy to clean 😉) Moving downward, I have seen many operators who "customize" their assigned lifts with makeshift pen/knife holders and other accoutrements to make their job easier. I do sympathies with the operators, who spend significantly more time with their lift than I do, inevitably though, I end up having to completely undo and remove these items just to gain access to the machine for maintenance and/or repair. I have also been on calls where items (tin snips, for example) had fallen into the machine and caused issues: one on a riding pallet jack that could not turn left because the tin snips had fallen in and wedged in such a way to block turning, and the second: on a reach truck, the snips fell down behind the mast. When the mast was raised into the second stage (when the mast segments start to extend) the snips fell into the place where the inner mast rails nested, causing a sensor at the top of the mast to slow the truck down to creep speed. Two takeaways here: the accident potential was increased dramatically, and both calls were dollars spent that could easily been avoided!
This brings me to the next point, things loosely laying on a horizontal surface of equipment: odds are highly likely that they will end up inside, one way or another. The most dangerous possibility is to forget that something is under the seat and open the hood, as the typical forklift configuration will have the object slide right into the engine cooling fan! Running or not, this is extremely dangerous - to operators, equipment mechanics and the equipment itself!! Bottom line - I highly recommend NEVER LEAVING ANYTHING LOOSE SITTING IN A FORKLIFT OR ANY OTHER EQUIPMENT!
The lower end: check for loose hanging hoses, wires, cables, foreign objects and etc., and have repairs made immediately. Another reason to remove garbage from the floor diligently, a forklift engine cooling fan pulls air from the engine and pushes out through the radiator, out the rear end of the lift. In contrast, an automobile pulls air from the front, through the radiator and into the engine bay. The forklift configuration, being lower to the ground in most indoor applications, creates a vacuum cleaner effect, where loose paper and shrink wrap WILL be sucked into the forklift engine bay. Typically, the result is the material wrapping around the fan - damaging the fan blades, belt, and possibly the water pump, or plastering across the radiator - causing overheating, a lot of down time and costly repairs on all accounts!
Washing a forklift, etc. an integral part of the maintenance cycle, washing with water, or blowing out with compressed air, can help to preserve hydraulic seals, note new leaks, see mechanical failures before they happen as well as many other possibilities! In conclusion, forklift maintenance is a "all hands on" endeavor, making safety easier to achieve.
Thank you for your time!
Tom Kassen
