Forklift driver thought it was OK to not look in direction of travel

It’s important to make sure forklift truck operators never drive their vehicles in reverse without looking in their direction of travel – it’s just too dangerous to blindly move in reverse.

Such advice comes too late for supervisors with KJ Tile, West Haverstraw, NY. The company just earned unwanted scrutiny after employee Carlos Ramirez-Hernandez, 52, suffered fatal injuries while operating a forklift.

Ramirez-Hernandez was driving the vehicle in reverse but not looking in his direction of travel when the forklift slammed into metal shelves upon which several pallets of heavy tiles were stacked. The impact of the collision caused the tiles to fall off the shelves and land on the worker, who was later declared dead at the scene.

(From the April 10, 2023, issue of Safety Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)