You Make The Call: Powered industrial truck strikes distracted staffer

“I’m not surprised one of your staff members was struck by a forklift and seriously injured,” said Tammy, the compliance officer. “You’ve got tons of people working in a small area with lots of truck traffic, yet little or no effort has been made to separate the flow of traffic.”

“I agree that there are a lot of individuals working in that area,” replied George, the supervisor. “However, we’ve got yellow chains and stanchions set up to mark pedestrian walkways and safety barriers installed to indicate forklift traffic lanes. Marci was injured because she wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Tammy.

“Marci was looking at her cellphone as she was walking through the busy area,” said George. “She wandered into the lane marked for powered industrial trucks and her foot got run over by one of the vehicles.”

“You can blame the worker if you want,” said Tammy, “but you haven’t done an adequate job of marking off permanent aisleways to separate truck traffic from pedestrian traffic. I’m citing you.”

“Not only are the lanes adequately indicated,” said George, “but we train all of our staffers to stay out of the pathway marked for truck traffic. Plus, Marci got hurt because she violated our safe- distance policy, which mandates that workers maintain at least 6 feet of distance between themselves and forklifts. We’ll fight your fine.”

Did the company win?

Yes. The company won. An administrative law judge tossed out the citation. The judge said the penalty was unjustified because the company was in compliance with the rule that requires employers to clearly separate pedestrian traffic from truck traffic.

According to the judge, the employer had installed yellow chains and stanchions to indicate pedestrian lanes and safety barriers to designate truck traffic lanes, then trained workers on which lanes they should use.

In addition, the woman was most likely injured because she violated the employer’s safe-distance rule, which required staff members to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from industrial vehicles.

What it means: Discipline distracted staff members

Now might be a good time to remind your people of the significant dangers posed by distractions such as cellphones.

Employees who aren’t paying attention to where they’re going and what’s happening around them because they’re looking at a mobile device have a much higher risk of injuries than do those who are constantly aware of their surroundings.

Action step: The next time you see a member of your staff using a cellphone when he or she shouldn’t be, discipline the person, then make sure everyone else is aware of your disciplinary action.

Based on Secretary of Labor v. Kehe Distributors.

(From the Sept. 3, 2024, issue of Safety Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)