Every three days, someone in the United States is killed in a forklift-related accident, and nearly 80 percent of forklift accidents involve a pedestrian. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), approximately 70 percent of all accidents reported could have been avoided with proper safety precautions. Despite the fact that employers and industry leaders are well aware of the dangers associated with forklift operations, many businesses fail to take appropriate measures to prevent such costly misfortunes. Tackling these disturbing injuries and fatalities head-on is Topper Industrial.
While there are new, even innovative manufacturers and suppliers of electronic safety and weighing devices, these solutions, mounted to a forklift or other moving vehicle, fail to stop the carnage. “There are far too many forklift-related injuries and fatalities that could have easily been prevented by simply operating a fork truck free environment,” said Ed Brown, founder of Topper Industrial.
Vision Guided Vehicles (VGVs) contain all the safety solutions and eliminate the biggest source of danger, forklift drivers. Automated tuggers pull industrial carts. They are programmed and all the variability of the driver is removed. Lives are saved and injuries avoided. “European manufacturing plants and distribution centers implemented fork truck free initiatives more than a decade ago, yet North American operations had been reluctant to part with the vehicles because with low labor rates, the ROI (return on investment) of fork truck free was less obvious. With each cart leased a less than $100 per month the solution become evident very quickly,” noted Brown.
Now with unemployment below 5%, rising labor rates well above $15 per hour, even double in some highly competitive markets, the ability to change the variable cost of labor while increasing safety is becoming the best solution.
This competitive workforce is also driving poor trained worker retention. Workers who may have been delighted just to have a job a few years ago, are leaving to make $2 more per hour at a manufacturing plant a mile away. This reality is particularly evident in large corporations which recognize that employee engagement is best when each team member is creating maximum value added contribution. Automated materials handling, especially in the automotive supply chain, simply makes sense.
Some safety training organizations are working to meet OSHA compliance and attempt to reduce forklift-related accidents… sometimes the dangers can be significantly curbed. Brown urges that is not good enough. “It is a company’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees and pedestrians, and it is our mission to provide the tools and resources to make a fork truck free environment the standard throughout North American operations. One more serious injury or death from a forklift is not acceptable.”
Posted by Jillian Burrow, Marketing Manager for Topper Industrial – Material Handling Solutions
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