Forklift Trucks - Safe Loads

The New Zealand OSH safety regulations are;

17.1 G eneral

(1) Forklifts with provision for a suspended load, including containers.

Attachments fitted to forks or with forks removed and a permanent

lifting attachment fitted:

(a) shall be designed and constructed for the purposes of suspending

a load

(b) shall not exceed 80% of the moment obtained from the rated

load applied at the specified load centre of the forklift, not the

maximum lifting capacity of the forklift, as per NZS/AS 2359.1

Powered industrial trucks – General requirements

.

Note

: Forklifts with a permanent attachment must be inspected and

certified by an equipment inspector.

Long loads are handled laying across the forks of a lift truck in yards and construction sites all over the world. What you ask is to change how these contractors do their job. In all the job site I have worked there are inspectors in and out constantly. If there were some safety regulation to how they were lifting the loads it would already have been addressed.

It is your decision if you wish to make it but it will cost you. You did not list that stipulation in the contract signed with the contractors. The general contractor will have to incur the expense. Which maybe incurred to the owner.

I agree long loads are handled commonly but there are enough near misses, injuries and fatalities that suggest that these loads are not safe to lift on forks. The contractor has an obligation to show that their work methods are safe so not every change can be back charged to the client.

I watch for years fork lifts move pipe in the oil fields and never saw them drop a stick. Working on the floor of drilling rig or on a construction site you soon learn you are only as safe as the people around you work habits allow. As i have done before. If these work habits are an increase to the hazards of an already dangerous job. Remove yourself or them from the job.

What you asked for is regulations regarding the use of lift trucks to move long loads. Your suggestion of a regulation to limit the length to three time the span of the forks is a change in the way they move these long loads. What you suggest doing is imposing regulation on many that move these load safely because of the few that do not.

Your regulation as stated would have long reaching effects. Just in the pipe the manufactures would have to reduce the length so the chain of supply could comply with the regulation. Time of assembly would be increased as there would be additional joints to be made up. Let alone the engineering that will go into piecing beams together to build with.

absolutely!

its not the width of the load, but the weight and height lifted that have to be considered. GA.

Chris

Put a scale under the back wheels, lift load. As long as you keep sufficient weight on those wheels for steering you should be fine...keep in mind that as you drive over bumps the forklift will bounce and if you have too much weight, it will loose steering. Try raising and lowering the weight quickly when testing it on the scale. You may be able to research and find out exactly how much weight you need to leave on the steering wheels, but I would recommend leaving as much as you can because it sucks when you are driving toward something alive or expensive and you cannot steer!

Drew

Fork lifts, at least in the USA, are required to have a rating plate describing what the rated weight capacity of the unit is. In the USA this is a Federal OSHA law and any owner of a unit without it can be cited for a violation and required to take the unit out of service until a legible rating plate is put back on.

Weight capacity ratings are usually expressed as the weight capacity at 24" from the back of the forks for 1-5 ton units or sometimes at another length that is usually half the length of the forks. Units with special clamps or other devices use the same technique but expressed with the cevice in mind. Some units will also have a second weight capacity based on another distance from the back of the forks.

If you are having problems with dropping loads you have a very serious situation. People may be guessing at load capacities, load weigths, rigging apparatus, etc. Best to develop procedures that accurately determine unit capacities, load weights, and over rig on the conservative side. It is much better to use the right stuff than to be resonsible for injuring or killing someone. Fork Lift accidents are usually very serious or fatal. Very seldom are they of the first-aid kit variety.

Maybe I need another cup of coffee here or else I've been out of the States too long. First of all RHREID does not appear to me to be concerned about the lifting capacity of the forklift. He is concerned about the length of the pipe being transported. Seldom ever will you lift enough pipe on a forklift to overload the lift. Pipe is bulk more so than weight.

The issue as I gather it is safety to other people while the operator drives the forklift with cargo to another part of the worksite. The simply answer is to have a Ground Guide accompany the load as it is transported about the site. I suspect that moving pipe is not happening continously or you would have found a more convienient place to store the stuff so having the contractor pull a laborer for a few minutes to escort a moving load is not going to be a big deal.

While you are thinking about putting in all these regulations you might try to define what you are talking about. Three times the width of the forks when the forks are open to the widest extent allowed by the manufacturer? Does that mean if I have a set of forks opened up to a width of 4 foot that the maximum length of pipe that I can carry is 12 foot? Or, does it mean that the max is 28 foot? The definition of 3 times the width makes a heck of a difference on what you are allowed to move.

BTW, have you done a work study and accident analysis to determine if you REALLY have a problem?

Like others here I'm trying to understand what "problem" you are trying to solve. You have stated a possible solution of changing codes or regulations/rules but I have yet to see a statement of the actual problem.

Are the fork lifts tipping over? Is the load falling off? Is the load interfering with other objects when being moved? etc . etc.

Please define the problem rather than the solution.

It depends on the surface that the forklift is operating on. If the ground is uneven or rough then each time the lift his a bump it is going to cauase the load to shift out of balance.

Just make sure the forklift operators are only lifting their loads high enough to clear obstructions. They make sure their load is centered and correct the center as much as necessary and to secure the load to the forks to minimize the chance of the loadds shifting.

Keep in mind the forklift's safety triangle. Carrying a load that long could be enough to shift the forklift out of its center of gravity if it should travel on a surface sideways that has a slight incline.

Cutting the materials into shorter pieces might be safer for the forklift operator but will it increase costs in other areas. That is something that requires sitting down and making a risk assessment.

- added trips to carry the same amount of materials to their final destination.

- cost of cutting the pieces.

- cost of added welding of more pieces.

- the added risk of having more welds that could possibly fail.

The important thing is that the load is secure to the forks and that the drivers path from point A to point B is clear of obstruction and the surface is relatively smooth and level.

You might also consider a boom attachment and a second person to control the swing of the load.

Having just past my forklift driving test i may not be the best person to comment on this but i do have a couple of thoughts.

While doing the training course there were some things talked about a lot. These included the weight of the load and its load centre and the rated capacity of the forklift.

The width of the load was only mentioned to state that the weight of the load should be centrally located on the forks.

Also when you are moving with something on the forks you have to be aware of your surrounding and ensure that you will not hit anything. If required then a groundperson should be used to help direct the forklift in a safe manner.

I think that you may be worrying about a minor point to the detriment of other more important things.

Ok, Pipe is not so much an issue with weight in this case. The steel beams on the other hand are. The OP should expand a little more on the size of the materials or at least provide lbs/ft for the materials.

I'm perfectly aware of load capacities. I am the forklift safety trainer for the company I work for. We have at times had to handle materials that were delivered in 40' lengths and we handled them using two forklifts just so we don't have the issue with tetering materials.

The OP is concerned about the transport of 36' lg materials across a construction site. I can appreciate his concern. I used to work for a construction company that erected metal buildings. All we had for the job was a skytrak and we lifted the rafter pieces, with some being as long as 40' using straps. It was a lot easier to control lifting with staps and guiding it with a tether line, than it was to watch the materials wobble back and forth everytime the forklift hit a bump.

OSHA doesn't directly address this issue, but as always OSHA will have you refer back to the all encompassing "General Duty Clause" that essentially says 'if you as a company have the common sense to know what you are doing is unsafe, then you can be held liable even if there is no specific code addressing it'.

In saying that, as long as you are abiding by the requirements stated on the nameplate and you are not using attachments that are not approved by the manufacturer, you should be alright. By following the requirements for the load center, load offset (if documented), max tilt height and load capacity, you will be maintaining the trucks' center of gravity within the stability triangle.

Now where your real safety concerns come in is with how you allow other workers to interface with the forklifts as they are carrying these wide loads. Our company has recently implemented a new R3 (Residual Risk Reduction) risk assessment program.

It is alot like doing a Design or Process FMEA except you rate the frequency, likelihood and severity of a task as it is related to safety. Once you've rated the existing conditions, determine ways to reduce the risk. Obviously the frequency of the task will be what it is, but by addressing the likelihood and implementing safeguards you will also be lowering the severity from harm. It is a good exercise that will help you better see the hidden risks.

Remember OSHA, NEC, local building codes, etc... are just minimum requirements. Nothing is stopping you from implementing a best practices approach.

very smart!! GA

I strongly suggest that you consult with a reliable fork lift vendor or a consultant specializing in material handling. You apparently have a substantial problem in respect to personnel safety. Unfortunately most of these postings don't address themselves to your TOTAL problem, just asssumptions of what the poster's interpret your problem to be. Your need someone with knowledge and experience to visit your site, see first hand what the problem is, do a risk analysis, and make educated recommendations to you to solve your specific problem(s). They should then observe if those recommendations have solved your problem. If not, redevelop solutions that do work.

I found that in over 40 years of Chemical and Safety Engineering that if I don't know, the best thing to do was find out from those who do know, not just to ask a question of anyone who happens to be handy or thinks they have the solution.

Ironically I paid for my education by operating a fork lift in a factory during the summer and doing rigging on a part time basis while in college. This always was of great influence whenever I did fork lift training or supervised others doing it.

Good Luck. Remeber- don't listen to just anyone who comes along, peoples health and lives are too important!

Hi,

its very clearly explained in forklift operational manual , when you increase the length of the fork , and center line of the load , capacity of the fork lift goes down , this information is clealy explained in the fork lift manual.

No other modification or calculation is permitted .

Ajit