1) Practices and policies
The foundational step in protecting pedestrians is to develop a set of safety practices that everyone in a facility—regardless of job title or responsibilities—is required to follow. Here are a few recommendations from the experts we consulted; you can also check out forklift OEMs’ and dealers’ websites for information about pedestrian safety training programs, educational materials, and videos.
- Warehouses are noisy places, so a system of hand signals that pedestrians and lift truck operators use to communicate with each other is essential, advises Toyota Brand Ambassador Tom Lego of Toyota Material Handling. Both parties should first make eye contact and acknowledge each other’s presence, then use gestures to indicate their intentions. Typical hand signals include pointing in the direction of travel, using the hand to indicate a planned turn, and waving to tell the other party to go ahead. To prevent confusion, he says, the signals must be standardized and known to everyone.
- OSHA regulations require forklift operators to give pedestrians the right of way. Operators must also slow down and sound the horn when they reach doorways, intersections, or blind spots, and when entering or exiting buildings. When approaching pedestrians, they should reduce speed and sound the horn; if the pedestrian doesn’t respond, then the forklift must come to a stop.
- Just as they would when crossing a street, pedestrians must stop at each intersection in the facility and look both ways before proceeding. They should use prescribed hand signals and stay within designated walkways at all times, advises Tillie Battaglini, product manager for iWarehouse technologies at The Raymond Corp. Other smart practices include wearing brightly colored vests or other personal protective equipment (PPE), not congregating in walkways, and never walking under an elevated load.
- Distraction compromises the safety of both operators and pedestrians, says Jason Moore, manager of sales enablement and operator training at Hyster Co. Neither should allow themselves to be distracted by cellphones, two-way radios, laptops, or scanners—even flipping through paperwork can be a distraction, he notes. Some facilities have policies that are specifically aimed at distraction, such as forbidding cellphones in work areas.
It’s also important to communicate those policies to employees. But who is best positioned to oversee pedestrian safety? Linde’s Bodenheimer suggests a team approach, where environmental health and safety (EH&S) specialists set the policies and create a structured safety plan they’re responsible for enforcing, forklift trainers educate pedestrians and operators, operations managers make sure employees follow protocols and maintain safe workflows, and team leads and supervisors reinforce safety rules in daily huddles.
How policies are conveyed has a direct impact on pedestrian safety. “It’s really important to have clear rules, with good communication and training, so everyone knows what will be expected of them,” says Michael Bloom, director of connected solutions at Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas, which includes UniCarriers and Jungheinrich among other lift truck brands. Effective communication is both verbal and visual, he notes. For example, rather than simply tell pedestrians about policies, follow up by showing them where they can safely walk and demonstrating compliance with the rules.
Similarly, Raymond’s Battaglini recommends using a variety of methods to communicate rules and expectations. Individuals learn differently, so combining classroom presentations, self-guided e-learning, hands-on experience, and feedback from technologies like virtual reality can be especially effective, she says.
Without enforcement and accountability, though, even the most skillfully delivered guidance may be less effective than it could be. Moore favors a graduated approach that starts with a verbal warning, followed by a written warning, and then escalating from there. “Each facility can establish what is an appropriate escalation, whether it is completing a refresher training course or more severe actions,” he says. No matter the details, he adds, enforcement must be consistent, fair, and transparent.
Being fair includes listening and not making assumptions. “What we hear most often when people are not following the rules is that it’s not intentional,” observes Shannon Curtis, manager of technology solutions and marketing at The Raymond Corp. For example, in high-volume environments or when demands for productivity ramp up, associates may become intensely focused on the task at hand and be less attentive, she notes. Sometimes the facility itself may be at fault, such as when blind spots compromise pedestrian safety. Auditing workflows and layouts can help to identify structural contributors to safety issues.
2) Visual and audible cues
Visual and audible signals are quick and effective ways to convey safety guidelines and warnings to pedestrians. The following are some of the most widely used options:
Signs. Whether they’re painted on the floor or hanging on a wall, attention-grabbing, easy-to-read signs help get the message out. Wall-mounted posters work well in breakrooms, locker rooms, and places like charging and maintenance areas where operators transition to pedestrian status, says Hyster’s Moore. Changing the text or location of signs periodically will keep them fresh, suggests Alex Sakowski, global product manager–emerging technology at Yale Lift Truck Technologies.
Lights. Flashing and/or rotating red or yellow lights, which can be mounted on racking at dangerous intersections, get pedestrians’ attention. Blue lights that project on the floor ahead of and behind a lift truck, and red “curtain” lights that cover an extensive floor area around the truck are designed to alert pedestrians that a forklift is close by.
Floor markings. Visually delineating where pedestrians are allowed to walk—typically a designated path painted in a color that contrasts with the floor—is critical for separating pedestrians and forklifts. Bright, contrasting colors and patterns, such as a combination of yellow, black, and white stripes, make crosswalks obvious to both pedestrians and operators.
Sounds. Standard forklift backup alarms beep loudly, alerting pedestrians that a nearby vehicle is traveling in reverse. Other options include buzzers, voice recordings, or melodies to help cut through the ambient noise. Some companies offer backup alarms that are paired with object-detection technology so the alarm sounds only when a pedestrian is in the travel path.
Mirrors. When mounted at the proper height and angle, large mirrors let pedestrians and operators see what’s around the corner before they proceed.
Barriers. One safety signal pedestrians can’t ignore is a guardrail separating pedestrian and forklift travel lanes, Yale’s Sakowski says. Typically made of aluminum or steel, they are an investment but make it abundantly clear to pedestrians that they must stay behind the barrier, he observes.
Pedestrians and operators, particularly those who are new to a facility, may respond most easily to cues they already know, so it’s a good idea to leverage well-established habits, says Logisnext’s Bloom. “For example, you can put a stop sign with lights that automatically blink when a forklift comes within a couple of meters of intersections where forklifts are required to stop. We’re already used to seeing this and taking appropriate action when driving through school zones, so take advantage of that heuristic within warehouse traffic flow.”
3) Safety-enhancing technology
The next level up in cost and complexity are safety-enhancing technologies that help reduce pedestrian accidents. Sakowski places them in two main categories: “passive” solutions the operator must react to, and “proactive” solutions that have the ability to change how the truck behaves. One example of the former is a badge worn by pedestrians that gives off an ultra-wideband (UWB) signal. A truck equipped with a UWB device senses the badge when it is within a specified range. An alarm, a light, or both alerts the operator to the pedestrian’s presence, and the pedestrian’s badge buzzes or vibrates to indicate that a forklift is nearby. Because UWB can pass through racking and other barriers to alert both parties before they can see each other, it is very effective—but only, Sakowski cautions, if the facility mandates that ALL pedestrians, including visitors, have the device with them at all times.
Some other relevant technologies include cameras that rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to identify pedestrians based on what they have learned from large numbers of stored images; LiDAR—light detection and ranging technology that emits laser pulses to scan for objects; simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM), which uses cameras and AI to map and recognize surroundings; and real-time location systems (RTLS), which use UWB technology to precisely track forklifts’ locations, set geofencing, and communicate with pedestrians and trucks.
A growing number of forklift OEMs and independent developers are incorporating those and related technologies into proactive safety systems that can modify lift truck and operator behavior to prevent collisions. Some have been available for several years, often as options in operator-assistance solutions; examples include Raymond’s ObjectSense detection and notification system within its iWarehouse suite of technologies, and the object detection and proximity detection capabilities in the Yale Reliant and Hyster Reaction operator-assistance systems. Depending on the manufacturer, the specific application, and customers’ preferences, these systems can alert the operator while effecting controlled deceleration, reducing travel speed, or bringing the truck to a stop.
Bloom of Logisnext says the company is currently piloting a new product called ZoneControl that allows fleets to customize alerts and forklift behaviors within specified “geo-zones,” or physical areas within a facility. Geo-zones can measure between two meters and 20 meters (roughly 6.5 to 65.6 feet) in diameter, and users can create up to seven concentric zones within them, each with its own customized instructions about what happens when a forklift enters that area. The geo-zones are delineated by wall-, ceiling-, or rack-mounted devices that transmit and receive location data using ultra-wideband frequency. When a truck with a transmitter/receiver antenna reaches a zone, the customized behaviors go into effect. For example, a zone trigger could slow a truck to a specified travel speed and turn on warning lights at a repackaging table to alert workers that a forklift is approaching to drop off a pallet behind them. The system is extremely flexible and highly customizable to reflect each facility’s unique needs and workflow, Bloom adds.
Linde, meanwhile, plans to release enhancements to its Linde Guardian safety system later this year. Guardian uses ultra-wideband to sense the proximity of pedestrians, forklifts, and infrastructure, and it employs LED projections, alarms, and haptic (touch-related) feedback to alert operators and pedestrians to each other’s presence. Guardian can also apply travel speed restrictions when pedestrians come within a specified distance of a truck. (It can even classify an operator wearing a transmitter badge who is not on a forklift as a pedestrian who is sensed by other forklifts; once on board, the operator is paired with that lift truck and is reclassified as a driver.) The enhancement combines UWB and real-time location sensing to track interactions among forklifts, infrastructure, and pedestrians. That data can then be used to design a better workflow to prevent unwanted or risky interactions, Bodenheimer says. Based on its analysis of proximity and movement patterns, the system dynamically adjusts its alerts and warning levels.
Don’t get complacent
While visual and sound signals and safety-enhancing technologies demonstrably reinforce safe workplace behavior, there are some potential concerns to keep in mind. For instance, DCs are busy places, with lights, computers, scanners, overhead signs, alarms, announcements, motors, and machinery creating visual and aural clutter. Over time, Bloom observes, even loud sounds can become background noise. He compares it to reading an article where at first only one sentence is bolded to catch the reader’s attention, but eventually entire sections are in bold type. “If everything is bold, how can you tell what is the most important?”
Haptic feedback—feedback you can feel, like vibrations and deceleration—can break through multisensory overload and get the attention of operators who may be prone to ignoring visual alerts, says Raymond’s Curtis. Depending on the application, her company often recommends a “layered” approach that incorporates visual and sound alerts plus a message on a truck-mounted monitor that tells operators why they are receiving those alerts or why the forklift is slowing down.
Another concern is operators becoming complacent because they assume technology will correct their errors. “We could in theory simply stop the truck when we see a problem ahead, but we don’t,” Bloom of Logisnext says. “Instead, we only slow it down. That’s because, ultimately, the operator should be the one who’s always in control. You can create technologies in ways that reinforce safe operating behavior and also help prevent operator complacency.”
Battaglini circles back to one of the fundamentals of warehouse safety: clear, frequent communication. She recommends repeating and reinforcing safety policies and training for both pedestrians and operators while maintaining the message that, with or without technology, they are still accountable for their own and their co-workers’ safety and well-being.
