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Forklift trucks - Safe operating speed?
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Raywood21766  
#1 Posted : 28 February 2012 10:37:01(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
Raywood21766
Hi everyone

Can anyone clarify... what is the accepted safe speed of forklift trucks in the workplace? I have heard some conflicting information recently, e.g. "walking pace", "in accordance with the surroundings and conditions", "5 mph", "10 mph".... this isn't helped by the fact that most forklifts don't have speedometers fitted!

Thanks
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HPhillips  
#2 Posted : 28 February 2012 10:44:10(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
HPhillips
I'm unaware of any prescriptive guidance on the matter - most guidance states 'suitable' speeds.... this article may be helpful:

http://www.safety-engineer.com/forklift.shtml
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Kate  
#3 Posted : 28 February 2012 10:49:10(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate
They may not have speedometers but they often have speed restrictors.
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rolly  
#4 Posted : 28 February 2012 10:50:22(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
rolly
I THINK ITS DOWN TO COMMON SENSE AND THE PLACE OF WORK.MOST COMPANIES SET A SPEED SUITABLE FOR ITS PLACE OF WORK .I HAVE SET MAXIMUM SPEED TO 5MPH WITHIN OUR WORK PLACE AND EVEN A SPEEDOMETER IS OF NO USE BECAUSE IN THE EVENT OF COLLISION HOW COULD YOU RECORD THE SPEED. ITS ALL DOWN TO TRAINING AND SUPERVISION OF THE WORK PLACE CONTROL.
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KAJ Safe  
#5 Posted : 28 February 2012 12:16:58(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
KAJ Safe
Totally agree with previous post, the area, other traffic, pedestrians, any segregation etc all need to be taken into consideration.
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Jake  
#6 Posted : 29 February 2012 08:38:11(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Jake
It's down to your risk assessment based on the size / design / conditions of the warehouse and the type of MHE / pedestrian traffic there is.

For what it's worth we limit all our MHE (lifting and non lifting) to 10 km/h. This limit is either set (depending on the age of the machine) by an electronic programme or restricting throttle travel.

We came to the conclusion of 10km/h based on our own tests of stopping distance given our warehouse design etc. and benchmarked against other retailers (who operate in similar environments using similar practices). We found that most retailers we asked adopted the 10 km/h limit, though there we was some slight variation in this.
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