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ARTICLE IN PRESS

Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581


www.elsevier.com/locate/apergo

Forklift safety, traffic engineering and intelligent


transport systems: a case study
Tim Horberrya,, Tore J Larssona,b, Ian Johnstona, John Lambertc
a
Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
b
Centre for Design, Occupational Safety & Health, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-136 40 Haninge, Sweden
c
John Lambert and Associates, 235 Wandana Drive, Victoria 3216, Australia
Received 23 June 2003; accepted 24 May 2004

Abstract

This paper details a forklift safety demonstration project undertaken at two manufacturing sites in Victoria, Australia. The
purpose of the work was both to help improve safety at the two sites, and, more broadly, to develop, help implement and evaluate a
series of human-centred design interventions involving vehicles and pedestrian workers. The ‘before’ and ‘after’ case study presented
here summarises the background to the research and introduces the test sites. Thereafter, it describes the overall nature of the safety
interventions proposed and introduces the methods developed to assess safety. For the traffic engineering interventions, positive
safety results were found in terms of reductions in the number of potentially hazardous interactions involving forklifts. Similarly, for
the vehicle interventions, the research found that forklift drivers and managers considered the newly developed and installed
Intelligent Transport Systems to be broadly acceptable in operational conditions, and the systems’ intended safety benefits were well
understood. The results are discussed and conclusions are drawn regarding human factors aspects of forklift safety.
r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 20,000 are seriously injured in forklift-related incidents


each year in the United States (Bureau of Labor
The use of forklifts has continued to increase in Statistics, 1998). Recent data from the Australian state
many industrial and transport operations in recent of Victoria (with a population of less than 4 million)
years. Indeed, forklifts have become an essential device reveal 46 forklift fatalities between 1985 and 2001
for materials handling (Feare, 1999), as well as a (WorkCover Victoria, 2003a). Likewise, provinces in
flexible transport vehicle for a large number of Canada have identified the occupational hazard that
tasks. While forklifts offer many benefits, such as forklift operation poses; for example, in Ontario, 18
improving productivity or reducing manual handling, fatalities were recorded for the period 1990–1995
they also pose a significant occupational hazard, (Ministry of Labour, 1999). Forklift related crashes
especially when used in close proximity to ‘pedestrian’ contribute a significant proportion of workplace fatal-
workers. ities all over the world, as well as an immense number of
Due to the physical weight of such vehicles, crashes serious and minor injuries.
between forklift and unprotected workers frequently Forklift crashes occur across all industry sectors,
cause severe injury or even death. To illustrate the however a significant fatality ‘blackspot’ exists within
problem, nearly 100 workers are killed and another the manufacturing sector (National Occupational
Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC), 1998). The
Corresponding author. Tel: +61-3-9905-4363. high number of pedestrian workers, narrow aisleways
E-mail address: tim.horberry@general.monash.edu.au and weight of forklifts are all contributors to the
(T. Horberry). problem in this sector (Collins et al., 1999).

0003-6870/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2004.05.004
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576 T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581

Certain risk factors are inherent, due to the design trucks and pedestrian workers are frequent, and
and functional requirements of the forklift. Indeed, the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), fitted to forklifts
versatility, ease of operation, power and flexibility of a to reduce risks to the operator.
forklift that enable it to be used for a multitude of tasks
in a wide variety of environments constitutes one of the
major risk factors. The narrow track coupled with a 2. The test sites
variable centre of gravity makes vehicle stability a
primary concern. As with many other powered vehicle Two operational sites of a large Australian manufac-
crashes, speed is a determinant in many forklift turing organisation were chosen to act as the ‘test-beds’.
accidents. Given the environment in which forklifts As with many busy industrial workplaces, the test sites
operate, their rate of travel has a direct bearing on the chosen contained a large number of pedestrians and
level of risk to which pedestrian workers are exposed. As vehicular traffic, especially forklifts. Few physical
pedestrian workers are involved in around 45% of barriers separated the vehicles and pedestrians, some
crashes, a need exists to control the speed of forklifts crossovers were not clearly marked and most personnel
when they are in a close proximity to pedestrian workers (especially the forklift drivers) worked under consider-
(Larsson and Rechnitzer, 1994). able time pressure, often resulting in forklifts driving at
Despite the significant occupational safety problems comparatively high speeds. In short, traffic management
that the use of such vehicles can create, organisations in this complex socio-technical system was sub-optimal.
typically have ill-defined procedures and traffic manage- Further, some production workers were required to
ment policies with respect to forklift truck operations. work in very close proximity to forklifts when they too
Whilst many of the hazards associated with forklift were under considerable time pressure. At the extreme
operation are well known, risk controls thus far have this meant they occasionally passed close to the front of,
been low level interventions, concentrating on operator or under, forklift tynes (the metal lifting prongs).
protection and training. Little has been done to modify
the risk environment; instead a culture reliant upon
education to prevent the incidence of assumed erroneous 3. Interventions proposed
behaviour exists.
A lack of consideration of the interface between A series of traffic and vehicle engineering interven-
pedestrian workers and forklifts in the workplace has tions were proposed. Both of these types of intervention
resulted in many of the more serious injuries and fatalities are outlined below. For each of the areas chosen for this
(Larsson and Rechnitzer, 1994; Solman, 2002). Relying demonstration project, the project team gained a
upon an absence of operator errors is inadequate; it is the thorough understanding of the problems by site visits,
belief of the authors that an array of engineering and technical documents and consultation discussions with
administrative interventions is required to combat the management and workforce.
risks. These interventions should include improved logis-
tics and traffic engineering, and the use of on-board 3.1. Proposed traffic engineering changes: attaining
intelligent vehicle technologies (Janicak and Deal, 1999). separation
Clearly, there is much for ergonomists and related
professionals to do in this area, however, surprisingly The proposed engineering interventions were based
little human factors research has previously been on a version of the hierarchy of control philosophy.
undertaken (with the notable exceptions of Hella et al.
(1991) and Solman (2002)). It was decided that a (1) Remove the problem by designing the environment
successful demonstration research project undertaken in which forklifts operate so that forklifts can never
at sites where there were a high number of previous come into contact with pedestrians.
forklift crashes should be of interest to all those wishing (2) Place a barrier (physical or temporal) between
to improve forklift safety. A project of this kind should forklifts and pedestrians.
also illustrate the difficulties and opportunities in (3) Improve warnings/markings, visibility and effective
designing and implementing workplace changes. As traffic rules, where forklifts and pedestrian traffic
such, it would provide useful lessons to regulators, intersect.
researchers and organisations that use forklifts.
The aim of this research was therefore to apply a As much as possible, the engineering changes were
range of techniques and interventions to demonstrate based on the principle that forklifts and pedestrians
safety improvements in forklift operations. This was should be physically separated. This separation should
reached through the development of both traffic occur both in work areas, and when travelling to and
engineering interventions, particularly in those areas of from work areas (where pedestrians’ travel distance and
industry where the potential conflicts between forklift forklift crossover points are minimised).
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T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581 577

The full details of the traffic engineering changes mental performance of all modes of transport and
considered are beyond the scope of this paper, however, industry. Forklift operations are a neglected area in
they included: which ITS could have a safety benefit.
The approach taken by the project team was to
 Segregating pedestrians and forklifts by completely examine the known safety problems (identified by site
closing off some areas to either forklift or pedestrian interviews, discussions with personnel and consultation
traffic. with the relevant forklift safety literature) then to
 Opening up ‘pinch point’ areas to allow a greater identify possible ITS solutions. As such, the ITS devices
separation between forklifts and pedestrians. This were designed from an operator or problem-centred
might include removing obstructions from aisles or perspective, rather than a technological availability
widening narrow roadways and intersections. perspective.
 Ensuring safe routes to workplaces for pedestrians In many cases ITS for forklifts are ‘emerging’
by means of clearly marked (and unobstructed) technology, there is a large amount of development
walkways. work being undertaken worldwide on such devices.
 Placing barriers/guardrails between pedestrians and There are numerous ITS devices (or potential devices)
forklifts if both needed to use the same route. that could have safety benefits for forklift operations,
 Redesigning pedestrian work areas where forklifts however, the scope of this project was such that only a
previously needed to enter (for example, to collect small number of devices on a small number of forklifts
packed pallets of finished goods) by adding hand could be demonstrated. It was decided that the forklift
pallet movers or temporal separation (meaning ITS chosen should be those that could address two key
forklifts could not enter the area when pedestrians safety areas:
were present).
 Employing grade separation, whereby almost total 3.2.1. Seatbelt wearing by drivers—by means of an
separation could be achieved by pedestrians using intelligent seatbelt system
bridges and upper floor access to work areas. In the This system comprised a sensor in the seatbelt buckle
work reported here grade separation was not finally that detected when the buckle was connected; sensors in
implemented, largely for reasons of cost. However, the seat that detected when the operator was seated, and
Fig. 1 shows a hypothetical example of how such a sensor that determined when the handbrake was
separation might be achieved. applied. The engine would only start if the following
procedure were undertaken: the forklift handbrake was
3.2. Proposed changes to forklifts: reducing the risks to engaged, the sensors detected the operator was seated,
operators by the use of ITS and then the seatbelt was connected. No other sequence
would allow the engine to start. Fig. 2 illustrates this
ITS is a term that describes developments in commu- concept.
nication and computing technologies applied to trans- In order for the forklift engine to remain running on
port services generally. The primary focus of ITS is to alighting, the sequence had to be: firstly the handbrake
provide improvements in safety, efficiency and environ- should be applied, secondly the seatbelt should be
disconnected and then finally the operator should
dismount. The reverse applied for getting on to the
running vehicle—seat sensor detected operator seated,
then the seatbelt sensor detected the seatbelt was
connected, and then the handbrake was released.

3.2.2. Excess forklift speed, especially when loaded—by


means of an intelligent load sensing/speed limiting system
This system comprised a pressure sensor that detected
and assessed the load being carried, and a two-stage
speed limiter system that set a lower speed when loaded.
The reduction in speed was determined by considering
the deceleration required to prevent the forklift tipping
forward; the speed limit was lowered such that total
stopping distances were the same as for hard braking
when empty. Fig. 3 provides further details of the design
and operation of this system.
Fig. 1. Computer generated image of a possible environment for Three forklifts were fitted with the seatbelt and speed
forklift pedestrian separation. limiting systems. This fitment followed extensive testing
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578 T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581

Fig. 2. Schematic view of the seatbelt system operation.

The purpose of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ observations


and surveys was to provide a benchmark in which the
effects of the interventions upon forklift/pedestrian
interaction behaviour and opinions could be evaluated.
In addition, using an operator-centred design philoso-
phy, the earlier observations and surveys helped inform
and direct the interventions.

4.1. Observational data

The approach taken was to look for critical ‘interac-


tions’. That is, cases where forklifts and pedestrians
came into close (or potentially close) contact. Addition-
ally, a rating of the severity of the interaction was also
recorded based on a three-point scale. The information
Fig. 3. Speed limiting system—method of operation. collected included:
 Number of pedestrians in the area being observed.
of prototype systems. All drivers and supervisors using  Number of forklifts (at pedestrian level) in the area
the systems received training regarding their usage, being observed.
together with information about the general purpose of  Number of forklift/pedestrian ‘interactions’.
the interventions.  Perceived severity of the forklift/pedestrian interac-
The choice of the two key safety areas was partly tions.
based on forklift fatality figures (1985–2003) in which the
two highest causes of deaths were forklifts overturning Observations were recorded at selected areas of the
and crushing the driver (hence the fitting of seatbelts), two manufacturing sites—each observation period gen-
and pedestrians crushed/struck by forklifts (hence the erally lasting one hour. The areas were chosen in
fitting of speed limiting systems) (WorkCover Victoria, discussion with site management; they were in locations
2003b). It should also be noted that these two areas that had either high traffic volumes or were known
mirror several of the key enforcement/publicity areas in ‘blackspots’. Each area observed was roughly twice the
recent Australian road safety campaigns (the fatal four: size of a tennis court. Recordings were made at the
speed, fatigue, seatbelt use and drunk driving). beginning and end of shifts, during ‘normal’ periods of
work and at break times.
In terms of number of pedestrians and forklifts in the
4. Methods used areas observed, the approach taken was to record each
occasion a pedestrian or forklift moved to a different
To quantify the possible safety benefits of the location on the area being observed. So, for the purpose
interventions, two methods were developed and em- of this study, a pedestrian or forklift movement of only a
ployed to assess employee behaviour and views of couple of metres, or leaving the observation area entirely
workplace risks. These were: would both count as a single movement.
Observations were obtained before and after the
1. Observations of forklift and pedestrian movements. interventions. The after observations were matched on
2. Employee surveys (a general survey before the time and exact location as closely as possible with the
intervention, and a vehicle technology acceptability before observations. The ‘before’ observations and
survey after the interventions). surveys were undertaken approximately one month
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T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581 579

before the interventions were implemented. After the siderations only a limited number of the interventions
interventions were put into place, several weeks of suggested were implemented. The implementation pro-
normal operations were allowed before the ‘after’ cess was not optimal due to practical difficulties such as:
observations were undertaken to allow the forklift no active project champions within the organisations,
drivers and other personnel to get familiar with the the vehicle technology requiring further testing and
intervention changes. some redesign, time constraints with implementing all
To help ensure the accuracy of the observations, two the interventions, and more general time constraints
experimenters (one an engineer, the other an ergono- with persuading the company to accept the long term
mist) independently recorded and then compared data process of organisational and workplace change.
to check that they were obtaining the same results. After Despite this, all of the vehicle engineering changes and
a high level of inter-rater reliability was obtained, one a range of the traffic engineering changes were
experimenter was used to collect the data. This implemented within the course of the project. The traffic
experimenter was an ergonomist and was not directly engineering changes actually implemented included:
responsible for the interventions, ensuring that the data segregating pedestrians and forklifts by closing off one
collected was not inadvertently biased due to the area to pedestrians, opening up one ‘pinch point’ area to
experimenter having a vested interest in the interven- allow greater separation, ensuring safe routes to work-
tions producing positive safety results. places for pedestrians by means of clearly marked
walkways, placing more barriers between pedestrians
4.2. Survey data and forklifts, and requiring greater use of hand pallet
movers. Some interventions proposed (e.g., grade
The initial survey was undertaken to help inform the separation) were not implemented by the company,
interventions in the before condition; in the after mainly due to cost issues. The results of these changes
condition a different survey was used to target specific are reported below.
vehicle technology issues.
In the initial survey the questions covered issues such
as basic demographic data, perceived exposure to
6. Results summary
workplace hazards and perceived risks of being injured
by a forklift in their work area. In addition, views were
Summary results of the observational data are
sought from workers regarding possible workplace
presented below, and differences found between the
redesign options. Hundred and twenty relevant person-
before and after conditions are outlined. The overall
nel from the two manufacturing sites completed this
results of the later acceptability of the vehicle technology
survey.
survey are also reported.
The later ‘acceptability of the vehicle technology’
survey was undertaken by all the forklift drivers on the
main shift who used the modified forklifts, plus super- 6.1. Observational data
visors/managers (six people in total). Only personnel
with direct operational experience of the new systems The results of the observational studies are shown in
forklift ITS devices were surveyed. This survey instru- Table 1.
ment was specially constructed to assess specific vehicle
technology issues, however, detailed discussion of it is
6.1.1. Number of pedestrians and forklifts (at pedestrian
beyond the scope of this paper. Questions were asked
level) in the area being observed
about the seatbelt and the speed limiter/load sensor
As seen in the above table, the two observation
systems, and following Van der Laan et al. (1997)
periods were found to be roughly equal in traffic and
Acceptability was measured along two dimensions:
pedestrian density (for example, 243 forklift movements
Satisfaction (e.g., how satisfying or unsatisfying is the
in the before condition, 264 in the after condition).
seatbelt system to use?) and Usefulness (e.g., the seatbelt
system is useful or useless for what reasons?).
6.1.2. Number of forklift/pedestrian ‘interactions’
It is thought that the reduction in the total number of
5. The process of implementing the interventions interactions from 29 to 14 was mainly due to increased
forklift pedestrian separation in several locations. Due
In developing the interventions the project team to the low number of sites at which before/after
undertook widespread consultations with workers, observations were made, the data were not subjected
supervisors and managers. However, implementation to inferential statistical analysis; however, they do
remained the province of the company; due to a range of suggest a major reduction in forklift/pedestrian interac-
technical, financial, operational and management con- tions as a result of the interventions.
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580 T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581

Table 1
Observational data

Condition Number of Total pedestrian Total forklift Total ped/fork Perceived severity of
observations movements movements interactions ped/fork interactions

Before 5 60 243 29 0.8


After 5 64 264 14 0.2

6.1.3. Perceived severity of forklift/pedestrian and vehicle engineering interventions can be success-
interactions (a score of 0 being minimal risk, fully developed and implemented. Forklift risk manage-
1 moderate risk, 2 being high risk, where a slight error in ment philosophies and strategies, academic theories
judgement would result in contact) and technological promises in ITS can be converted
The lower value after the interventions (0.2 as into concrete, feasible and human-centred engineering
compared with 0.8 before the interventions) indicates a designs.
lower risk in terms of rated severity of the interactions Second, indicative results show that that such
between forklifts and pedestrians. Again, due to the low engineering and vehicle technology interventions were
number of sites at which before/after observations were successful, for the limited time they were surveyed. Not
made the data were not subjected to inferential all the interventions proposed were implemented,
statistical analysis, however, they do suggest a major however, in terms of the more limited traffic engineering
reduction in forklift/pedestrian interaction severity as a interventions that were undertaken, the before/after
result of the interventions. observational study found positive safety results in
terms of reductions in the number and severity of
6.2. Acceptability of the vehicle technology survey data potentially hazardous interactions involving forklifts
and pedestrians. In terms of the vehicle interventions,
The main results were that both the speed limiting and the positive acceptability ratings by operators, super-
seatbelt systems were still working successfully two visors and managers are encouraging, especially as some
weeks after they were installed on forklifts, and that all resistance-to-change inertia might be expected. Only one
six drivers, supervisors and managers surveyed thought case of an operator trying to override one of the systems
the trial was worthwhile and would be willing to (the seatbelt interlock) was reported. Some fine-tuning is
continue undertaking the project for a longer period. needed, but as long as the end users are involved in the
Overall the operators preferred the speed limiting system iterative process of redesigning the ITS devices then it is
to the seatbelt system, this seemed to be because the hoped that many of these remaining issues will be
seatbelt system interfered more with their habitual ways relatively minor. As such, it is anticipated that ITS
of working (for example, drivers needed to get on and devices, designed from a user-centred perspective, could
off the forklifts up to 40 times per shift—the seatbelt become a viable long-term method to help address
system therefore required them to invest extra effort on known forklift safety problems, and so fulfill the
numerous occasions during their shifts). However, all previously stated expectations of other forklift safety
agreed that safety benefits might come from both researchers (e.g., Larsson and Rechnitzer, 1994; Janicak
systems if they were used on a permanent basis. and Deal, 1999).
There were several comments regarding the fine- Third, fitting in with the great tradition of organisa-
tuning of the systems (e.g., modifying the exact speeds to tional change (e.g., Warr, 2002) this case study has also
which the forklifts were limited, or slightly changing the found that the process of implementing the forklift
design of the actual seatbelt). However, as the systems related safety interventions in a working organisation is
were newly developed technologies then it is not exceedingly difficult. In this case study, financial,
unreasonable that a few teething problems were operational and managerial restrictions had a strong
experienced, which later iterations of the ITS technology influence on which recommended interventions were
would address. implemented. Generally the cheaper interventions that
required fewer operational changes, less specialised
personnel and less effort to put into practice were
7. Discussion and conclusions implemented. Senior management support is necessary
but not in itself sufficient. An enthusiastic project
There are three main findings of this work. First, champion from within the organisation, and large
effective forklift safety requires more than operator investments of time and money are also required.
training and personal protective equipment. This case Despite the apparent successes of parts of this
study has shown that detailed, workable traffic project, a few restrictions should be noted. The traffic
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T. Horberry et al. / Applied Ergonomics 35 (2004) 575–581 581

engineering interventions were only implemented at a Collins, J.W., Smith, G.S., Baker, S.P., Warner, M., 1999. Injuries
small number of areas. Although these results were related to forklifts and other powered industrial vehicles in
automobile manufacturing. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36 (5), 513–521.
largely positive, they only represent a sample of the
Feare, T., 1999. Forklift operator training; What OSHA’s new rules
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and managers. Although the forklift drivers used the movements in different tasks related to the use of lift trucks. Appl.
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Overall, it is the contention of the authors that many and fatal occupational injuries, critical incidents and priorities for
important outcomes have resulted from this project. prevention. Safety Sci. 17, 275–289.
Ministry of Labour, 1999. Guideline for the Safe Operation and
Further work to improve forklift-related safety will Maintenance of Powered Lift Trucks. Publication Section of
hopefully carry on with the organisation hosting this Ministry of Labour, Ontario, Canada.
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wealth of Australia.
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Solman, K.N., 2002. Analysis of interaction quality in human machine
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Acknowledgements London, Penguin.
WorkCover Victoria, 2003a. News Releases and Articles. Retrieved
The authors wish to thank WorkSafe Victoria 8th May 2003 from: http://www.workcover.vic.gov.au/dir090/vwa/
media.nsf/Site+Search/9EA9332CAF8B83614A256BE20080080C
(Australia) for their funding of this research. Addition- WorkCover Victoria, 2003b. Guidance Note: Forklifts-instability
ally, the work of Peter McWhinney and colleagues from and excessive speed. Retrieved 8th May 2003 from: http://
Switched-On I & T Services on the development and www.workcover.vic.gov.au/dir090/vwa/alerts.nsf/b172c010ed2-
installation of the vehicle interventions is greatly c47954a2566480001b218/248f4d0b77dcc60cca256cb1001b67f5?
OpenDocument
appreciated.
Dr. Tim Horberry is a Senior Research Fellow at the Monash
University Accident Research Centre, Australia. Professor Tore
References Larsson is at the Centre for Design, Occupational Safety &
Health, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Professor Ian
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1998. Occupational injuries and illnesses: Johnston is Director of the Monash University Accident Research
counts, rates, and characteristics, 1995. Washington, DC: US Centre Australia. John Lambert is Director of John Lambert and
Department of Labor, Bulletin 2493. Associates, Australia.

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