Part of that commitment includes strict compliance
with safety regulations and industry standards that affect
forklift design and operation. The manufacturers we consulted cited the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI)/Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation
(ITSDF) B56.1 standard, which governs safe design, operation, maintenance, and testing of lift trucks, and the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 29
CFR Section 1910.178, which covers similar ground from
an operator-safety point of view along with training. Some
also mentioned the Underwriters Laboratories’ UL 583
standard, which covers electric-powered
trucks with respect to risk of fire, electric
shock, and explosion.
Forklift makers often get involved in
developing safety standards and regulations. The Raymond Corp., for one, says
it feels so strongly about maintaining the
quality of its forklift design that it has representatives on the key committees for ANSI/
ITSDF and OSHA standards and regulations.
Other lift truck makers also participate in
relevant committees, and all of the companies consulted for this article are actively
involved in the Industrial Truck Association
(ITA), which plays a major role in promoting lift truck safety.
(See “Spreading the word on lift truck safety,” page 41.)
LISTENING TO THE CUSTOMER
As the sidebar accompanying this story attests, forklift
manufacturers have plenty of ideas when it comes to
ways to enhance operator safety. But how do they decide
which features to design into their trucks? Customers and
the dealers who serve them have an enormous influence.
Most of the experts we consulted mentioned “Voice of the
Customer”—a standardized market-research process for
understanding a customer’s needs, desires, and dislikes,
and then organizing and prioritizing the findings. “End
users are the driving force for any and all of our designs,”
says Bob Hasenstab, general product manager for Kion
North America, whose products include Linde and Baoli
forklifts. “We build and design with substantial and exten-
sive customer and driver input.”
The Voice of the Customer process is extremely import-
ant when making a design change to a forklift, says
Koffarnus. Through intensive interviews with end users,
Hyster learns what aspects they think could be improved.
And it’s not just current customers who have a chance to
offer suggestions; the company also polls users of compet-
itors’ equipment. Casting a wider net can have a big pay-
off. For example, Koffarnus notes that Hyster’s Operator
Sensing System, which helps operators move safely within
the operator compartment, grew out of conversations
with users of competitive equipment who were concerned
about the rising number of workers’ compensation claims
and were looking for a different solution from anything
available at the time.
But not every idea that comes along is—or should be—
implemented, says Kevin Krakora, vice president, design,
quality, and product support for Mitsubishi Caterpillar
Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) and chairman of ITA’s National
Forklift Safety Day. That’s because no change in a forklift’s
design happens in isolation, he points out. “Before adding
any new feature, we consider if an item will have a potential adverse effect on other functions of the forklift as well
as other applications,” he says.
Ron Grisez, director of product safety
for Crown Equipment Corp., agrees. “If the
features integrated into the forklift will pro-
vide a net positive improvement to overall
safety of the forklift, then we endeavor to
include the feature as standard,” he says.
“However, if we believe a requested fea-
ture could negatively affect the safe oper-
ation of a product, then Crown may decide
not to allow the feature on our product.”
Not all safety enhancements should be
designed into the truck, Hasenstab notes.
Any feature that would affect the machine
as a whole—the center of gravity, vibration
reduction, noise level, all-around visibility, and so forth—
will be designed in, he says. Other types of features, such
as speed and lift limits, seat-belt interlocks, and the like,
would typically be add-ons and may be optional.
THE HUMAN FACTOR
All of the experts we consulted agreed that design alone
is not sufficient to maintain safety. “Human error cannot
be eliminated, so equipment and procedures must be as
secure as possible. However, operators and fleet managers are responsible for keeping lift truck operations accident-free, and proper operation still requires appropriate
operator knowledge, training, skill, and attitude,” says
Susan Comfort, product manager, narrow-aisle products,
for The Raymond Corp.
In an increasingly automated world, though, complacency about safety is a growing concern, says Raymond’s John
Rosenberger, product manager, iWarehouse Gateway and
global telematics. Technology can help combat operator
complacency; for example, alarms can be used to warn of
a potential problem and draw the operator’s attention back
to the task at hand, he says. Rosenberger adds that his
company is making these alarms more proactive so they
warn the operator earlier of possible safety issues.
Another useful tool is a fleet management system, which
gives end users access to objective data regarding the
safe or unsafe operation of the forklift and the vehicle’s
condition, says Crown’s Grisez. “End users can help avoid
complacency by actively using this available data to have
real-time discussions with operators, so that performance
