Changes To Forklift Compliance Standards That May Affect Your Business
Earlier this year, several changes have been made to the Australian standards for manufacturing forklifts. Some of these changes may affect your business performance significantly. These changes apply for forklifts that are manufactured after 26th February 2014. If you have a forklift truck that does not comply with the newest safety standards, don’t worry, the following text will help you to overcome all the changes.
The new standards in Australia for the forklift manufacturers are established with a purpose to improve the safety of the new forklift truck models. These standards are internationally accepted. One change in the forklift standards is when traveling with mast elevated. When operators use electric counterbalanced forklift truck or reach truck with mast elevated, the traveling speed needs to be reduced to maximum of 3 km/h.
Another major change applies to the operator restraints. The operator’s seat of any forklift truck needs to have a lateral support device and a lap-type seat belt in order to keep the operator safe, even in case of tipping over. When the seat belts are fitted, the operators need to make sure that they are interlocked. In addition to the seat belt interlock system, the seat belt must be linked to the handbrake and to a neutral switch. The manufacturers must make this system tamper-proof.
The forklift truck will not start, if the following sequence is not followed:
- The operators sits on a seat with OPS (Overload Protection System);
- The parking brake must be activated all the time;
- The operator uses the seat belt and makes sure it is locked;
- The operator starts the forklift truck by releasing the park brake and by switching into gear;
If your forklift is manufactured before 2014, you can install some newer safety systems, such as the ForkTrack. This smart feature increases the safety in every operation. The ForkTrack includes pre-start safety check ups, operator ID controls, seat belt interlock, impact shutdown and impact detection. Aside from the increased fleet efficiency, the ForkTrack reduces the fleet operating costs and improves the overall performance.