Hazards: Struck-by for people on foot · Pinch between truck and rack or wall · Blind intersections and poor lighting · Loads that block the operator's view
Why it matters
On September 23, 2024, a worker walked through a poorly lit poultry house. The forklift operator could not see him in the dark, struck him and ran over him. He was 68, and he died (OSHA Accident Search, Summary Nr 170443.015). Nothing about that truck failed. The lighting and the traffic pattern did. Most people hurt around a forklift are not the operator — they are on foot.
Key points
- Horn at every blind spot. 1910.178(n)(4): slow down and sound the horn at cross aisles and anywhere vision is obstructed. A horn used only in anger is a horn nobody believes.
- Load blocking your view means drive in reverse. Same paragraph: travel with the load trailing. Never crane your neck around a pallet and hope.
- Eye contact, then move. 1910.178(n)(6) requires the driver to look in the direction of travel and keep a clear view. On foot, get a nod from the operator before you cross — a raised hand is not the same as being seen.
- Never stand where you can be pinned. 1910.178(m)(1): trucks are not driven up to anyone standing in front of a bench, rack, wall or other fixed object. That is where a person gets crushed instead of knocked clear.
- Nobody under the forks, loaded or empty. 1910.178(m)(2). Not to grab a box, not for a second.
- Aisles marked, clear and lit. 1910.176(a) requires permanent aisles to be marked and kept clear; 1910.178(h)(2) requires auxiliary lighting on the truck where general lighting is under 2 lumens per square foot. If you cannot see a person in the bay, neither can the operator.
Do / Don't
Do
- Walk the marked aisle, even when the open floor is shorter.
- Stop at the corner, sound the horn, then roll through.
- Speak up when a light is out in a travel path.
Don't
- Step out from behind a rack or a trailer without looking.
- Walk between a moving truck and a fixed object.
- Assume a horn or a beeper means the operator has seen you.
Quick site check
- Pick the worst intersection here — mirror, marked stop, or nothing at all?
- Are pedestrian aisles still painted and still clear of pallets today?
- Any bay, trailer or corner where a person standing still would be invisible?
Discussion — ask the crew
- Walk the building in your head: where do we cross a forklift path with no marked aisle and no mirror?
- Where is our worst blind corner, and does anyone actually sound the horn there?
- How dark does it get in the back bays or in the trailer, and can the operator see a person standing there?
- When you walk past a truck, do you wait for the operator to look at you, or do you assume they saw you?
- Which load do we routinely carry high or wide enough that the operator cannot see forward?
Refs: 29 CFR 1910.178 — Powered industrial trucks ((h) lighting, (m) truck operations, (n) traveling, (l)(3)(ii)(D) pedestrian traffic) · 29 CFR 1910.176 — Handling materials, general ((a) aisles marked, clear and wide enough) · OSHA eTool — Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklift) · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 170443.015 (09/23/2024)Sign-in sheet included in the printed version