A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO DC VELOCITY 15
WHEN IT COMES TO FORKLIFT SAFETY, good operator
training will always be Number One. But a variety of lift truck
accessories, devices, and technology products can also help
you enhance safety for forklift operators and pedestrians in
your warehouse. Here are some recent examples that are
now on the market.
SPOTLIGHT ON FORKLIFT
SAFETY PRODUCTS
These new products are designed to enhance the safety of forklift
operators and pedestrians wherever lift trucks are in use.
FORKLIFT SAFETY STROBE LIGHTS
TVH in the Americas (TVH), a supplier of replacement parts
for material handling and industrial equipment, has added
new dual-color strobes to its ML2 LED, ML5 LED, and ML55
LED series forklift safety lights. These strobes come in four
different color combinations: amber/blue, amber/clear,
amber/red, and blue/red. The dual-color option is ideal for
alerting other workers of a forklift’s action, the company
says. If the forklift is moving, the strobe will flash one color.
When the forklift is stopped and the forks are lifting, the
strobe will flash the other color, indicating that the forklift
is in use and not just parked.
Each strobe series is rated 12-80VDC. All of the units
have six LEDs per head (three of each color) and come with
a two-year warranty. (TVH in the Americas, www.tvh.com)
STANDUP FORKLIFT UNDERRIDE PREVENTION
The Backbone from Lakeport Metalcraft Inc. is a vertical
metal bar designed to prevent serious and potentially fatal
injuries to operators of reach trucks and standup forklifts
caused by horizontal objects intruding into the operator’s
compartment. According to the device’s manufacturer,
most of these accidents occur during rearward collisions
with racking—for example, when a horizontal rack beam
penetrates the operator compartment.
The Backbone is easy to install and attaches in minutes, according to the manufacturer. It also complies
with the ANSI B56.1 safety standard for lift trucks and
meets the requirement to withstand the impact of a fully
loaded truck traveling 1. 6 km/h, or approximately 1 mph.
(Lakeport Metalcraft Inc., www.lakeportmetalcraft.com)
NATIONAL FORKLIFT
SAFETY DAY
FORKLIFT ANTI-COLLISION SYSTEM
ELOshield, a forklift anti-collision system, made its U.S. debut at the Modex 2018 show
in Atlanta. ELOshield was developed by Elokon, a European provider of lift truck safety
technology.
ELOshield is a UHF (ultra-high-frequency)-based warning system that helps prevent
industrial truck accidents (both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person). A fixed-site
version monitors accident-prone areas, such as high-traffic aisle intersections. A
mobile version monitors zones of up to 50 feet around moving vehicles. These zones
can be programmed, by vehicle, as circles, symmetrical rectangles, or asymmetrical
polygons. Two zones, representing “warning” and “danger” risks, can trigger different system reactions.
When trucks get too close to each other or pedestrians, the truck-mounted display sends an audible and/or visual alert,
automatically slows the truck down to “creep speed,” and, if desired, stops the truck. If pedestrians come too close to a
truck, their tags vibrate and sound an alarm.
This advanced driver-assistance system includes ID tags for industrial trucks, pedestrians, and fixed locations (like racking
or doorways), as well as operator displays for each vehicle and a charging system for the pedestrian tags. (Elokon, www.
elokon.com/en/)
