B Recognize And Avoid The Hazards - Jungheinrich EKS 314 Manual De Instrucciones

B Recognize and avoid the hazards

In its 1998 study of industrial truck use, OSHA identified a nummber of ways acci-
dents regularly occur and described why they occur. OSHA concluded that untrained
and poorly trained operators pose significant risks to themselves and those working
in their vicinity. According to OSHA, the major cause of accidents with industrial
trucks and their resulting injuries and deaths is improper or unsafe operation. It is no
surprise, therefore, that when OSHA reviewed its files, it discovered that accidents
almost always occur as a result of situations or actions the operator, or the employer
and the operator, were in a position to influence or control for the better. A simple re-
view of the accident causes identified by OSHA proves this observation. Out of 208
industrial truck accidents studied, which involved 184 deaths or serious injuries, fully
50% were caused by a load problem, including overload, instability, falling load or im-
proper lifting of load. Similarly, 25% involved overturn/tipover of the truck. Falls of the
truck from a platform or trailer, or of lifted persons from the truck, accounted for ano-
ther 20% of accidents. Although 'no training' accounted for about 4% of the accidents,
OSHA properly noted that many of the accidents could have been equally caused by
improper training - for example, an overturn accident may also have been the result
of no, or poor, training of the operator about load balance. Other less frequent, but
equally employer and operator - controllable accident causes include speeding and
use of improper equipent.
It is therefore critically important to:
– Complete the training and operator certification process before beginning work with
an industrial truck.
– Always be in competent physical, mental and emotional condition before operating
an industrial truck.
– Understand and observe safe loading and handling practices- know your machine
capacities and work within them.
– Avoid circumstances which can lead to overturn or tipover- this includes, for ex-
ample, understanding center of gravity and following sound loading and load mo-
vement practices, and constant area awareness of edges, curbs, dropoffs and
other surface details.
– Never carry passengers or lift people without specific training, the correct truck,
equipment and procedures.
– Always follow traffic rules and always be aware of the location of co-workers, other
trucks and your physical surroundings.
The manufacturer declines all responsibility for the consequences of dismantling the
truck or making any modification which is outside the manufacturer's control.
The manufacturer's responsibility is limited to the configuration of the equipment de-
scribed in the conformance certificate. The manufacturer is absolved from their re-
sponsibility if there are modifications, additions or use of equipment from another sup-
plier, in which case the user assumes the manufacturer's responsibility.
These operating instructions become invalid if the machine is modified by a company
which is not part of our company group, even if original spare parts are used and our
company logo remains displayed on the equipment.
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