3.1 Picking up, carrying and placing a load

1 Before the forks go in

1910.178(o)(1) opens with the gate: only stable or safely arranged loads shall be handled, and caution shall be exercised when handling off-center loads which cannot be centered. That judgement happens before you approach, from where you can see the whole load.

• Is the load stable as it stands? Leaning stacks, broken banding, crushed cartons and a pallet with a split stringer are all reasons to fix it on the ground.
• Is the pallet sound? Missing deck boards, split stringers and protruding nails decide whether the load survives the lift.
• Do you know the weight, and is it inside the truck's capacity at this load center? That is Part 2, Chapter 2.
• Is there room? Aisle width, headroom, and somewhere to put the load down if the lift goes wrong.
• Is anyone in the way, including behind you where the tail will swing?

1910.178(m)(8) adds a check operators forget indoors: there shall be sufficient headroom under overhead installations, lights, pipes, sprinkler systems and the like. A mast raised into a sprinkler head is a flood and, on a bad day, an electrical contact.

2 Engaging the load

1910.178(o)(5) gives the sequence in one sentence: a load engaging means shall be placed under the load as far as possible, and the mast shall be carefully tilted backward to stabilize the load. "As far as possible" is doing the work — it is the difference between a load center of half the pallet depth and something much worse.

1. 1
   Square up. Approach straight, forks level, at low speed. A load picked up at an angle sits crooked all the way to the rack.
2. 2
   Spread the forks as wide as the pallet and carriage allow, to support the load and resist twisting.
3. 3
   Enter fully. Forks all the way in until the load is against the backrest, or as far as the load permits.
4. 4
   Lift just clear, a few inches, and stop.
5. 5
   Tilt back carefully — only enough to stabilize the load, which is exactly what (o)(5) and (o)(6) ask for. Excessive back tilt puts the load's weight onto the heels of the forks and can slide a tall load rearward.
6. 6
   Lower to travel height and check the view forward before moving.

3 The tilt rule that gets misquoted

1910.178(o)(6) is worth reading in full because half of it is usually forgotten. Extreme care shall be used when tilting the load forward or backward, particularly when high tiering. Tilting forward with load engaging means elevated shall be prohibited except to pick up a load. An elevated load shall not be tilted forward except when the load is in a deposit position over a rack or stack. When stacking or tiering, only enough backward tilt to stabilize the load shall be used.

The logic is the moment arithmetic of Part 2. Forward tilt with a raised load pushes the combined center of gravity forward and keeps it high — the one combination that threatens both stability directions at once. Over a rack, the load is about to be supported by something other than your forks, which is why the standard makes that the exception.

4 Traveling with the load

Two rules govern travel height and direction, and both come from paragraph (n). 1910.178(n)(6) requires the driver to look in the direction of, and keep a clear view of, the path of travel. 1910.178(n)(4) tells you what to do when the load takes that view away: if the load being carried obstructs forward view, the driver shall be required to travel with the load trailing.

Traveling in reverse with the load trailing is a required technique, not an improvisation — and it comes with its own duty to look where you are going, which now means behind you. Turn in the seat, use the mirrors as a supplement rather than a substitute, and slow down: the truck steers from the rear wheels, which are now leading.

Travel height is not a number in the standard, but it follows from A-7.2's advice to carry the load at the lowest position possible. Common practice is to keep the load low enough to clear floor irregularities and no higher, with the mast tilted back. Every inch of height is lateral margin spent for nothing.

5 Placing and stacking

Placing is engaging in reverse, and the same rules apply in the opposite order. Stop square to the rack or stack. Raise the load to height only once you are stopped and lined up. Move forward slowly until the load is over its support. Level the mast, then lower until the load takes its own weight and the forks are free. Withdraw straight, then lower the forks to travel height before you turn.

1910.178(m)(1) covers the approach: trucks shall not be driven up to anyone standing in front of a bench or other fixed object. A person between a forklift and something solid has nowhere to go, and this paragraph exists because that is a common way to kill someone at walking pace.

Stacking brings its own rules from outside 1910.178. 1910.176(b) requires that storage of material not create a hazard, and that bags, containers and bundles stored in tiers be stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so they are stable and secure against sliding or collapse. 1910.176(c) requires storage areas to be kept free from accumulations of materials that constitute hazards from tripping, fire, explosion or pest harborage. A rack aisle full of broken pallets is both a housekeeping violation and the reason the next lift goes wrong.

6 Overhead and the load backrest

1910.178(e)(2) requires the user to equip fork trucks with a vertical load backrest extension if the type of load presents a hazard. The hazard it is naming is a load falling rearward through the mast, into the operator compartment. Small cartons stacked above the backrest, loose bundles and anything that can shift under back tilt are exactly that hazard.

1910.178(e)(1) requires high lift rider trucks to be fitted with an overhead guard, unless operating conditions do not permit. Together these two pieces of structure define the protected space around the operator. That is worth remembering when the temptation arises to put your head or an arm outside it — and it is the reason 1910.178(m)(4) requires the employer to prohibit arms or legs from being placed between the uprights of the mast or outside the running lines of the truck.

Finally, 1910.178(m)(2) is absolute: no person shall be allowed to stand or pass under the elevated portion of any truck, whether loaded or empty. Empty is in the text on purpose. A carriage held up by hydraulics can come down.