How To Make Indiana Forklifts & Material Handling Safer

Forklift Operator Safety Forklifts

Safety should be as big a priority as productivity for Indiana businesses. But when you have a large and varied workforce, working with heavy machinery and complex processes, what can you do to make your work environment safer?

Tynan Equipment Company, Indiana’s material handling equipment experts, have been helping make factories, work floors, and construction sites safer and more efficient for over 60 years. During that time, we’ve worked with some of the best minds in engineering, supply chain management.

These are just a few things the most successful companies in Indiana do to make their material handling jobs safer.

Create a Culture of Safety in Your Workplace

Dedication to safety at your place of business starts at the top. Incentivize record streaks of workplace safety the same way you might reward record productivity numbers for a certain team or department.This not only helps show your entire team that you’re dedicated to safety and that you care for their wellbeing, but it also helps get every employee behind the cause of workplace safety.

Here are a few specific ways you can create that culture of safety.

Extend Equipment Training To Your Entire Staff

To get your entire team on the same page when it comes to a safer workplace, equipment training such as forklift training should be extended to everyone on the workfloor. That way, your team can hold each other accountable for any unsafe practices that could arise down the road, such as if someone gets “rusty” on a certain forklift.

Most industrial accidents happen from not following proper protocol with heavy machinery. When you have your entire staff properly trained on all your equipment, you can avoid an incident like someone overloading a forklift that they aren’t completely familiar with.

Give Safety Reminders Center-Stage in Your Warehouse

The workplaces that have accidents are typically the ones who don’t communicate proper safety procedures to their staff. If all you have is one employee bulletin board with safety protocols, it may not be enough. Go the extra mile with visible safety reminders, especially on any forklifts or other material handling equipment that will move around, warning against overloading past a certain weight limit, what moving parts to never touch, and beyond.

Take Your Equipment Maintenance Seriously

If a forklift operator complains that one of your lifts needs to be serviced, don’t ignore them. If you think you’re ok to wait until more people speak up, it may be too late – and you may end up with damage products or worse, an injured worker. Make sure you have a dedicated forklift maintenance plan in place, to cover for any emergency issues that could arise in your heavy duty material handling equipment.

Make Sure Your Employees Are Comfortable

Another big contributor to workplace accidents are uncomfortable or underprepared working conditions. Workplace injuries can happen far too often for just the simplest of reasons, such as:

  • Running out of a particular hard hat size, so someone goes without one for the day.
  • Forcing workers to stand for long periods of time on bare concrete, causing them to tire way too quickly.
  • Not having an adequate break area, whether heated or air conditioned, with places to sit for employees to rest.
  • Not providing gloves for forklift drivers, especially ones who work outside, making their hands likely to numb from either the cold or the vibration.

Part of the culture of safety you can create at your workplace comes from a direct conversation with your teams on the floor. Ask how you can make their conditions more comfortable, and you’ll be able to find ways to make your entire business safer.

For more tips on safer material handling or to buy or rent the safest forklifts in Indiana, give us a call at 317-597-4003 today.

Make sure you're using the best practices for material handling safety in your Indiana business.

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