News

Jun 19, 2023

How Is Your Forklift and Powered Industrial Truck Compliance?

Updated: Sep 29, 2022 Are you ready for an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection of your powered industrial truck compliance? In the warehousing and storage industry, the

Updated: Sep 29, 2022

Are you ready for an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection of your powered industrial truck compliance? In the warehousing and storage industry, the powered industrial truck standard is OSHA’s most frequently cited standard.

The agency currently has several powered industrial truck regional emphasis programs (REPs), as well as industry-specific REPs for warehousing and storage that include

inspection procedures and checklists for evaluating forklift safety compliance.

The agency just launched an REP for warehouse operations in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (in Region 3) that focuses on forklift safety, as well as ergonomic and heat hazards.

The Region 3 REP targets inspections of warehousing, storage, and distribution yard operations of:

In addition to the ergonomic, heat, and other hazards of warehousing, OSHA’s Region 3 REP is focused on powered industrial truck compliance and includes checks of hazards such as standup forklift under-ride hazards, as well as the maintenance of vehicles, operations and practices, proper charging or fueling procedures, safety rule enforcement, and training.

There also is an REP for warehousing operations in OSHA’s Region 9—Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—that launched in November 2018.

There is a warehousing and refuse handlers and haulers REP in OSHA’s Region 2—New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Region 2 warehousing and refuse handlers and haulers REP includes inspections for powered industrial truck compliance.

There also are powered industrial truck emphasis programs in Region 1, Region 4, Region 5, Region 7, and Region 10. While OSHA area offices usually select facilities for forklift compliance under the REPs, agency compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) may also expand other inspections to include powered industrial truck compliance if they observe powered industrial trucks in use. If an employer refuses to allow a CSHO to expand the scope of an inspection to include powered industrial trucks, then the CSHO will consult with the area director, but the agency may seek a warrant for inspection.

During inspections, CSHOs will review an employer’s OSHA 300 logs and OSHA 300A summaries for workplace injuries involving forklifts.

Inspection procedures in the Region 1, 4, 5, 7, and 10 REPs include:

Under the regional program directives, CSHOs look at issues that include whether industrial trucks meet industry design standards; supervisors’ awareness of equipment designations; operators’ knowledge of proper powered industrial truck use; fuel handling and storage; changing and charging batteries; proper bridge plates and dock boards; operator training; proper traveling, loading, and operation; and maintenance.

Industries targeted by the Region 1, 4, 5, 7, and 10 powered industrial truck REPs include agricultural, construction, and maritime industries, as well as general industry.

Under the Region 5 program, CSHOs will evaluate elements of compliance such as:

OSHA also has a rulemaking to update its powered industrial truck regulations. Updates to the general industry and construction standards proposed February 15 would add references to the latest equipment design and construction requirements published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation.

OSHA’s powered industrial truck standard, which became effective in 1971, is based on ANSI’s 1969 industry consensus standard (ANSI B56.1). ANSI has updated the standard 12 times since—in 1975, 1983, 1988, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

While ANSI regularly updates its B56 standards, OSHA acknowledged it is difficult for the agency to provide timely corresponding updates in its regulatory standards through the notice and comment rulemaking process.

The rulemaking would only affect which powered industrial trucks are acceptable for use at a site or facility.

OSHA’s powered industrial trucks standard includes provisions covering operator training and certification and safe forklift operation, as well as battery changing and charging, the control of noxious fumes or gases, forklift maintenance, fuel handling and storage, lighting for forklift operational areas, and safety guards.

Your compliance program needs to address operator training, operation, and maintenance, including the battery changing or charging and fueling of forklifts and other powered industrial trucks.

You may want to review your compliance using a checklist based on lists OSHA’s regional offices provide agency inspectors: