Industrial Lift Trucks

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Operation of industrial lift trucks can cause serious injuries or death as a result of collisions, roll-overs or crushing injuries.

Summary

Industrial lift trucks are a diverse family of powered vehicles that are designed to lift and move materials safely within a warehouse, storage yard, construction site, or other facility. Examples of industrial lift trucks include:

  • Fork lifts powered by internal combustion engines or batteries.
  • Powered pallet trucks.

Internal Combustion Forklift

Operation of industrial lift trucks can cause serious injuries or death as a result of collisions, roll-overs or crushing injuries. The major causes of injuries include the following:

  • Operation by an employee who is not competent.
  • Operation in conditions of limited visibility, such as obstructed view.
  • Operation of a vehicle that lacks required safety equipment or has not been properly maintained.
  • Overloading a vehicle beyond its capacity or carrying unstable loads.

Key safety steps for the operation of industrial lift trucks include:

  • Use a truck that is suitable and designed for the job and is in good working order.
  • Do not exceed the truck’s weight rating and ensure that loads are balanced and secure.
  • Ensure that the vehicle has all required safety equipment and that the safety equipment is in good working order. Equipment can include adequate brakes, manually operated horn, rear-view mirror, audible backup alarm or flashing light that operates automatically, adequate headlights and tail lights, seat belts and ROPs. Inspecting the vehicle before use (and periodically as required by the manufacturer) and repairing any defective or damaged parts.
  • Ensuring that all vehicles operators are competent.
  • Ensuring that vehicle operator has good visibility for safe operation or providing a signaller to guide the operator.

As an employer, you must ensure that an industrial lift truck:

Employers must, if circumstances allow, provide designated pedestrian walkways to separate pedestrian traffic from areas where industrial lift trucks are operating. [Reg. 91-191, S. 216.02(1)] 
If circumstances do not allow for a designated walkway, the employer must use any of the following safe work procedures to minimize the risk of a collision: [Reg. 91-191, S. 216.02(2)]

  • Traffic control system;
  • Enforcement of speed limits for the industrial lift trucks;
  • Pedestrian and industrial lift truck operator must acknowledge each other’s presence before the pedestrian proceeds through the area.

While the employer is ultimately responsible for all the provisions mentioned above, the supervisor has a vital role to play in the safety of their teams. As a supervisor, you must:

  • Acquaint your employees with the hazards and control measures associated with their work.
  • Provide the information and instruction necessary to ensure their health and safety.
  • Enforce company safety rules, programs, codes of practice and procedures, including ensuring employees comply with the requirements below.

As an operator, you must:

  • Inspect the lift truck before operating the vehicle. [Reg. 91-191, S.216.2(1)] If a truck is used by more than one operator during a day, each operator must inspect it. (see Interpretation)
  • Operate the industrial lift truck in accordance with the training received.
  • Not operate a lift truck if safety devices have been altered and been rendered ineffective. [Reg. 91-191, S.216.1(2)]
  • Not leave a truck unattended unless you stop the engine, set the brakes, park on a level surface and lower the lifting mechanism to the floor. [Reg. 91-191, S.217(1)]
  • Not carry persons in a lift truck unless the vehicle is designed to carry passengers. [Reg. 91-191, S.217(2)]
  • Be mindful of pedestrians, other industrial lift trucks, vehicles, materials, etc.
  • Not move the truck and remain at the controls at all times, if operating an industrial lift truck with a forklift platform with an employee on the platform. [Reg. 91-191, S.129.2]
  • Keep all parts of your body inside the industrial lift truck when travelling; travel with the forks as low to the floor as possible; decrease speed around corners and sound the horn; and, travel in reverse when a load obstructs your vision.
  • Follow the workplace refuelling or battery charging procedure, including wearing the proper personal protective equipment.

An operator may, if there is no pedestrian traffic in the area, travel forward with an elevated load to improve their view, if the operating conditions are maintained to make sure the truck is stable and in compliance with the manufacturers’ specifications. [Reg. 91-191, S. 216.02(3)]

As an employee, you must:

  • Not work on a forklift platform unless the industrial lift truck is on a firm flat surface and the platform is equipped with guardrails or a travel restraint system or fall-arresting system.
  • Not work under or go under the raised parts unless the parts are adequately blocked. [Reg. 91-191, S. 216.01(2)]

Legislation

General Regulation - Occupational Health and Safety Act

N.B. Reg. 91-191

Part XI TEMPORARY STRUCTURES

Section 129.1 Forklift Platforms
  • 129.1 (1) In this section,
  • "forklift platform" means a work platform that is supported on the forks of an industrial lift truck.
  • (2) An employer shall ensure that a forklift platform
    • (a) is securely attached to the lift truck so as to prevent accidental movement of the platform or the tipping of the forklift,
    • (b) is designed and constructed of material of sufficient strength to support safely the loads to which it may be subjected, and
    • (c) if a manufactured platform, is erected, used, maintained and dismantled in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.
  • (3) An employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck supporting a forklift platform
    • (a) is on a firm flat surface to ensure the truck's stability, and
    • (b) is operated by a competent person.
  • (4) An employer shall ensure that a forklift platform is equipped with guardrails.
  • (5) Despite subsection (4), if it is not practical to install guardrails when an employee is required to work from a moving forklift platform, the employer shall provide and the employee shall use a travel restraint system or fall-arresting system attached to an anchor point provided by the manufacturer or approved by an engineer.
  • (6) When a fall-arresting system is used, the employer shall ensure that the fall-arresting system does not interfere with the raising and lowering of the platform.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 40; 2010-159, s. 24; 2022-27, s. 31]

Section 129.2

129.2 A person who operates an industrial lift truck with a forklift platform shall, if the platform is elevated more than 1.2 m and there is a person on the platform,

  • (a) not move the truck, and
  • (b) remain at the controls of the truck.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 40]

Part XV MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL CARRYING EQUIPMENT

Section 216 Industrial Lift Trucks
  • 216. (1) An employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck
    • (a) is used only for the purposes for which it was designed,
    • (b) is operated by a competent employee,
    • (c) is inspected daily and maintained in good operating condition,
    • (d) is equipped with adequate brakes,
    • (e) is equipped with a manually operated horn,
    • (f) is equipped with adequate head and tail lights when used after dark or in dimly lit areas,
    • (g) is equipped with an audible back-up alarm that operates automatically when the truck is in reverse gear and that is clearly audible above the background noise at the place of employment, or a flashing light that operates automatically when the truck is in reverse gear and that is clearly visible to persons who may be at risk when the truck backs up,
    • (g.1) has a rear-view mirror or other means of ensuring that the truck can be safely backed up,
    • (h) is equipped with overhead guards that conform to ANSI standard ASME B56.1-1993, "Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks" to protect the operator of the truck from falling material,
    • (i) has the manufacturer's rated capacity posted in a conspicuous location on the truck,
    • (j) is not loaded beyond its capacity, and
    • (k) has any load on it stabilized and, when necessary, secured.
  • (1.1) An operator of an industrial lift truck shall ensure that the truck is not loaded beyond its rated capacity and that the load is stabilized and, if necessary, secured.
  • (2) An employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck is not operated
    • (a) where propelled by an internal combustion engine, near areas containing explosive dusts or flammable vapours or in buildings where the ventilation is not sufficient to eliminate the hazards from exhaust gases,
    • (b) in a one-way aisle, unless the width of the aisle equals at least the width of the vehicle or load being carried, whichever is wider, plus 600 mm, or
    • (c) in a two-way aisle, unless the width of the aisle equals at least twice the width of the vehicle or load, whichever is wider, plus 900 mm.
  • (2.1) An employer shall ensure that a competent person thoroughly inspects and repairs an industrial lift truck and any safety devices installed on it before the industrial lift truck is first put in use and after any incident that may have damaged some part of it.
  • (3) An employer shall install mirrors or other similar devices at blind intersections where there may be a danger of a collision between an industrial lift truck and another object or a person.
  • (4) Where a hazard exists from rolling over, an employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck is equipped with a rollover protective structure that meets the minimum safety requirements of CSA standard B352.0-95 , "Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) for Agricultural, Construction, Earthmoving, Forestry, Industrial, and Mining Machines - Part 1: General Requirements" or safety requirements that are certified by an engineer to provide equivalent or better protection.
  • (5) An employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck that has been fitted with a rollover protective structure is provided with seat belts or restraining devices that meet the requirements of subsection 221(1) and shall ensure that an operator of an industrial lift truck uses the seat belts and restraining devices while the industrial lift truck is in motion.
  • (6) An operator of an industrial lift truck shall use the seat belts or restraining devices referred to in subsection (5) while the industrial lift truck is in motion.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 71; 2022-79, s. 35]

Section 216.01 Precautions when hoisted by hoisting apparatus
  • 216.01 (1) An employer shall ensure that an industrial lift truck that is raised from the ground by means of a hoisting apparatus is adequately blocked.
  • (2) An employer shall ensure that an employee does not work under or go under the raised parts of an industrial lift truck unless the parts are adequately blocked, and no employee shall work under or go under the raised parts unless the parts are adequately blocked.

[N.B. Reg. 2022-79, s. 36]

Section 216.1
  • 216.1 (1) No person shall alter an industrial lift truck in such a way as to render ineffective a safety device installed on the truck, except where the alteration has been certified in writing by the manufacturer of the device or an engineer as affording protection equal to or greater than the protection afforded by the original device.
  • (2) An operator shall not use, and an employer shall not permit to be used, an industrial lift truck if the truck has been altered so as to render ineffective a safety device installed on the truck, unless the alteration has been certified in writing by the manufacturer of the device or an engineer as affording protection equal to or greater than the protection provided by the original device.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 72]

Section 216.02 Pedestrian and equipment traffic
  • 216.02(1) If the circumstances permit, an employer shall provide designated pedestrian walkways to separate pedestrian traffic from areas in which industrial lift trucks are in operation.
  • (2) If the circumstances do not permit an employer to provide designated pedestrian walkways, an employer shall implement at least one of the following safe work procedures to minimize the possibility of collision:
    • (a) the use of a traffic control system;
    • (b) the enforcement of speed limits for industrial lift trucks; or
    • (c) a requirement for a pedestrian and an industrial lift truck operator to acknowledge each other’s presence before the pedestrian proceeds through the area.
  • (3) In order to improve an industrial lift truck operator’s view of the area, the operator may, if there is no pedestrian traffic in the area, travel forward with an elevated load provided that the operating conditions are maintained to ensure the stability of the truck and compliance with the manufacturer’s specifications.

[N.B. Reg. 2022-79, s. 36]

Section 216.2
  • 216.2 (1) An operator of an industrial lift truck shall check for the effectiveness of all safety devices daily before operating the truck.
  • (2) If more than one operator uses an industrial lift truck in the course of a day or if the industrial lift truck is used on more than one shift, each operator shall check for the effectiveness of all safety devices before operating the truck.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 72]

Section 217
  • 217. (1) An operator of an industrial lift truck shall not leave the truck unattended unless the operator
    • (a) stops the engine,
    • (b) sets the brakes,
    • (c) parks on a level surface, and
    • (d) lowers the hoisting mechanism so that the tips of the forks touch the floor.
  • (2) An operator shall not operate an industrial lift truck with passengers on the truck unless the truck is designed to accommodate them safely.