Posted By Wazza What is the root cause of the dust. Ask why dust is getting in the eye, then ask the same 'why' for at least 5 further times. You will be surprised how effective it is to detail the root cause of the problem. PPE is a last resort. Perhaps review housekeeping practices, look at the FLT itself. Do you need an enclosed cab? Does the dust itself give rise to Occ Health exposure? We use a Linde H45 with enclosed cab, working in a gypsum plant, causes us no problems with this truck. Regular maintenance etc. is a must. Would also suggest looking at your incident records to determine what actions are outstanding if any or that have not been highlighted. More importantly, as a safety officer, it isn't just your problem, line managers are more responsible and should assess these incidents. As a final note, if all else fails, make a coffee and get yourself a hob-nob, works wonders. Regards Wazza

Posted By Martin Taylor Wazza - thanks for your feedback - we do use the 5 whys approach to root cause analysis widely in risk assessment and incident review. In this case the dust concern is coming from 'natural' sources - local grassy verges, concrete slab of the yard, rubber from FLT tyres and general debris from incoming HGVs. Some of it can be dealt with by housekeeping and we do road sweep the area once a week but in my opinion we will be stuck with a residual risk that can not be eliminated (As I imagine do a large number of other operations). El Ninos comments on fully enclosed cabs is a good example of reduction technique but is not always an option where regular demounting is concerned or on trucks not designed as such. Any other comments from people operating fleets of forklift trucks in open areas - eye protection? no eye protection? (and considering El Ninos comment that one of his drivers was affected although wearing prescription spectacles what type of eye protection?) thanks Martin

Posted By Mark Glynn Thomas I have dealt with a few incidents were FLT drivers have had dust in their eyes whilst driving. The knee jerk reaction by senior management was to issue googles to all FLT drivers, but this lead to more problems. Firstly they caused blind spots for the FLT drivers and in some cases irritated their faces. Secondly some drivers already wore prescription glasses, but management basically forced them to wear the goggles as well! If you are going to issue glasses make sure you carry out a study on what the drivers want and sample a few different types of goggles / glasses etc.