10 A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO DC VELOCITY
NATIONAL FORKLIFT
SAFETY DAY
mishaps occur when “workers get complacent withrepetitive work and ignore safety measures,” Marshallwrote. Indeed, during the trial, the operator admitted tobeing careless about basic safety protocols.
As the above example suggests, developing a safetyculture among forklift operators and other warehouseand DC personnel requires employees to change boththeir mindset and their behavior. The baseline foraccomplishing that: clear, consistent communicationand collaboration across the facility.
DOES EVERYONE GET THE MESSAGE?Clear, effective communication by andfor everyone—not just forklift operatorsbut pedestrians too—is vital. Evennonverbal communication can leadto big improvements when everyoneadopts the protocol. Hyster Co., forexample, asks pedestrians to “waitfor the wave.” Whether employees orvisitors, pedestrians do not proceeduntil the forklift operator waves tothem. This conveys the message that“I see you, I value your safety, and I will wait and waveyou on,” Buckman explains.
More broadly, safety communications should beshared through multiple channels—horizontal, vertical,and peer-to-peer. UCA, for example, always starts majormeetings with a safety-related topic; this reinforces theidea that safety is the first priority, Johannesen says.Because informal discussions can also be effective,UCA makes sure line supervisors and managers are“fluent in safety” and know how to communicateguidance to their direct reports and others in a facility.Regardless of who is delivering the safety messages,Johannesen adds, they must be aligned and consistentacross the organization.
Training, of course, is a fundamental element of safetycommunication. Facilities with a forklift safety culturetypically go above and beyond the minimum safetytraining requirements set by the U.S. OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA). And becausea safety culture by definition encompasses everyone ina facility, their programs generally include pedestrianstoo. Anyone who enters a facility should receive asafety orientation and periodic refresher training onhow to be safe in an environment where forklifts areoperating, Lego says.
An essential element of any operator-training
program is hands-on safety demonstrations and
instruction, says Joe Tomkiewicz, director, consumer
trades and durable goods for Yale Materials Handling
Corp. He also recommends assigning an experienced
mentor to work with new employees during training
sessions. “This practice helps ensure that important
legacy knowledge is passed on to new hires, enabling
them to meet demanding performance standards while
respecting safety protocols,” he says.
A different approach may be more effective for
experienced employees who have
been doing things their own way for
years. They might be resistant to new
expectations associated with a safety-
focused culture. For them, Johannesen
says, “this is really about implementing
and managing change, just like in any
other business or industry.”
Strong safety programs also use a
variety of methods to deliver training
and guide operators to follow best
practices. Advancements such as
virtual reality-based instruction, which
allows operators to practice safe
operating techniques using a simulator on a stationary
lift truck, and e-learning are effective when used in
addition to traditional safety lectures and in-person
instruction, says Dave Norton, vice president, customer
solutions and support, for The Raymond Corp. Outside
the classroom, technologies like warehouse and
labor management systems and forklift telematics
enhance safety by allowing organizations to connect
and communicate directly with an operation’s fleet
management, assets, and workforce, he notes. Forklift
telematics, for example, use sensors and wireless
transmission to direct, track, and measure some
of the lift truck’s and the operator’s activities and
performance. This capability makes it possible to
identify operators who require additional training. On
the flip side, reports, alerts, and remote controls can
help to reinforce desired behaviors.
COME TOGETHER
The safest facilities are those where employees taketo heart their responsibility for each other’s safety. Formutual responsibility to become a way of life, peoplemust take a collaborative approach to fixing problems.When a mistake, an accident, or a near-miss occurs,it’s important that a working group of employees fromdifferent levels, not just managers, come togetherto understand what happened and take corrective
