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Toolbox talk · 10 min · Forklifts & Mobile Equipment

Skid Steers and Telehandlers

Hazards: Crushing between the loader arms and the cab · Rollover and tipover · Struck-by for people on foot · Overload and forward tip on a telehandler · Falls from a platform on the forks

Why it matters

On June 14, 2024, a worker tried to free a skid steer stuck in soft dirt. He stood between the cab and the bucket and reached in to press the pedal. The bucket came back toward the cab and the loader arm crushed him; he died of head and chest injuries (OSHA Accident Search, Summary Nr 167464.015). Four months later a telehandler traveling a plant road struck and killed a worker walking his rounds (Summary Nr 170665.015). Both machines were working exactly as designed.

Key points

  • Never stand between the arms and the cab. Not to reach a control, not to clear a jam. Run the machine from the seat with the restraint on, or shut it off first.
  • Block it before you get under it. 1926.600(a)(3)(i): parts held aloft are blocked or cribbed, buckets fully lowered or blocked for repair, controls neutral, motor stopped, brakes set. Use the factory arm support.
  • Restraint on, inside the cage. Seat belts are required on this equipment under 1926.602(a)(2), and skid-steer machines built after July 15, 2019 fall under subpart W rollover protection (1926.1000(a)). The cage only works if you stay in it.
  • The manual is the standard here. OSHA reserved specific skid-steer rules in 1926.602(a)(1), so capacities, entry and exit, attachment limits and slope limits come from the operator's manual — keep it with the machine.
  • Telehandler: read the load chart. 1926.602(c)(1)(i) requires rated capacity posted and legible; capacity drops sharply as the boom extends and comes down. No modifications without the manufacturer's written approval — (c)(1)(ii).
  • People on foot are the ones who get hit. 1926.602(a)(9): working horn, and no reversing with an obstructed rear view unless the reverse alarm works or someone signals it is safe. A raised boom hides a whole person.

Do / Don't

Do

  • Lower the arms and shut down before you leave the seat.
  • Keep the load low and tucked while traveling.
  • Level the machine on outriggers before extending the boom.

Don't

  • Bypass a seat bar or interlock to keep working.
  • Ride in or on the bucket, or lift a person on bare forks.
  • Guess a telehandler's capacity at full extension.

Quick site check

  • Arm support pin present on the machine, and does anyone know how to set it?
  • Load chart and capacity plate legible on the telehandler?
  • Restraints and interlocks working — nothing tied back or defeated?
Discussion — ask the crew
  1. Has anyone here reached into a skid steer cab to work the controls from outside? What were we trying to fix?
  2. Where is the arm support pin on our machine, and has anyone ever used it?
  3. Do we have the operator's manual for each machine on this job, and where is it?
  4. For the telehandler: do we read the load chart for the boom angle and extension, or go by feel?
  5. How does a person on foot know the telehandler is coming when the boom blocks the operator's view?
Refs: 29 CFR 1926.602 — Material handling equipment ((a)(1) skid-steer rules reserved, (a)(2) seat belts, (a)(9) alarms, (a)(10) scissor points, (c)(1) industrial trucks and personnel platforms, (d) operator training) · 29 CFR 1926.600(a)(3) — Equipment suspended or held aloft must be blocked or cribbed before working under it · 29 CFR 1926.1000 — Rollover protective structures: scope, including skid-steer equipment manufactured after July 15, 2019 · 29 CFR 1910.178(l) — Powered industrial truck operator training and evaluation (identical for construction through 1926.602(d)) · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 167464.015 (06/14/2024) and 170665.015 (10/02/2024)Sign-in sheet included in the printed version

Frequently asked questions

Not a specific one. 29 CFR 1926.602(a)(1) lists the earthmoving equipment covered and then says the promulgation of specific rules for compactors and rubber-tired skid-steer equipment is reserved. What does apply: the general provisions of 1926.600 and 1926.602 (seat belts, alarms, guarding of scissor points, blocking equipment held aloft), subpart W rollover protection for skid-steer machines manufactured after July 15, 2019 under 1926.1000(a), the employer's duties under 1926.20(b) and 1926.21(b)(2), and the manufacturer's operator manual. On general industry work, 1910.178 applies where the machine is a powered industrial truck.

Because the loader arms move when the controls do, and the space between the arms and the cab closes on whoever is standing in it. That space is not designed to hold a person; it is a pinch point. Operate the controls from the seat, with the restraint fastened, or shut the machine down.

Yes when work happens under or between raised parts. 29 CFR 1926.600(a)(3)(i) requires heavy machinery or parts suspended or held aloft to be substantially blocked or cribbed before employees work under or between them, and end-loader buckets and similar equipment to be fully lowered or blocked when being repaired or not in use, with controls neutral, motor stopped and brakes set. Most machines have a factory arm support — use it.

For training purposes, yes. A rough-terrain or variable-reach truck is a powered industrial truck: 1926.602(c)(1) sets the equipment requirements and 1926.602(d) makes construction operator training identical to 1910.178(l), including the evaluation at least every three years. Capacity has to be posted and legible under (c)(1)(i), and no modification affecting capacity or safe operation is allowed without the manufacturer's written approval under (c)(1)(ii).

Only on a work platform that meets 1926.602(c)(1)(viii): the platform is firmly secured to the lifting carriage or forks, people on it have a means to shut off power to the truck, and falling-object protection is provided as conditions require. A pallet, a bucket or a set of bare forks is not a work platform. For boom lifts and scissor lifts, see the aerial lift talk.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Results are estimates for planning purposes and do not replace a competent person's evaluation or an engineer's design. Follow the OSHA standards that apply to your work and your employer's written program.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated