The controversy over forklift alarms

Should you or shouldn’t you install alarms on your forklifts? While alarms can reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries, they are ineffective in certain situations -- when the ambient sound level is too great or the physical dimension of the worksite too small.

OSHA recommends but doesn’t require the use of alarms and manufacturers oppose them for a variety of reasons:

* excessive noise to the operator results in annoyance, fatigue and long term hearing loss
* pedestrians become habituated to the alarm and ignore it
* operators depend on the alarms to clear the path, without looking ahead
* multiple alarms from more than one lift truck cause confusion

The use of alarms remains optional, although forklifts with enclosed cabs need them because the cab obstructs vision, and if an alarm is supplied by the manufacturer it cannot be altered or removed.