Safe forklift speeds

If there was a forklift fatality at a workplace and the vehicle was traveling at 10 mph instead of the designated 8 mph, who would be responsible?

“Regulating the speed of an industrial truck is an important part of the environmental design of the workplace,” according to the American Society of Safety Engineers. Yet OSHA “does not have specific speed limits set for the safe operation of a powered industrial truck,” it said in answer to a query.

Forklift speed should be considered because of the destructive power of a fast moving forklift. A 5,000-pound forklift moving through a warehouse at 10 mph with a 4,000 pound load has a potential destructive force of 135,000 pounds of energy, according to the ASSE. Also, a forklift truck moving at 10 mph may take 40 feet to stop.

In response to these figures, the ASSE says the maximum speeds allowable for a forklift truck with no pedestrians present is 8 mph and 3 mph in areas where pedestrians are present.