Each year, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) requirements are becoming increasingly stringent in Australia throughout the construction industry. While forklifts are an excellent vehicle for use in warehouses and on construction sites, sadly, OHS safety issues commonly arise with this type of machinery.

A statistic of note is that 36% of serious forklift-related injuries involve someone other than the driver. This means pedestrians are often caught off-guard and may not be aware a forklift is coming. The machines themselves do make noise, but in a busy warehouse or factory, for example, the audibility of the forklift can get lost amongst the other surrounding activities.

So, what’s the solution to keep your workers out of harm’s way? The best way to prevent common forklift accidents is to increase their visibility on the ground, using blue light-emitting-diodes (LED) or safety lights.

The blue LEDs project a very visible beam of light across the floor which is hard to miss. They can be mounted to either the front or rear of the forklift and depending on where they are placed, will project blue light approximately five metres ahead of or behind it, alerting pedestrians to the approaching machine. The light only moves when the vehicle does, so pedestrians know when the forklift is stationary or moving.

There are a variety of safety light products on the market, such as the Narva Blue-Spot LED.

Narva is Australian-owned and is a leader in the development, manufacture and supply of automotive lighting and electrical components for the automotive, marine and transport industries.

The new Blue Spot safety addition is particularly valuable to anyone crossing from a blind angle such as in-between racking in a warehouse, in front of an oncoming forklift. And while the 9-110 volt light features two potent XP-E 3 watt L.E.Ds, it’s surprisingly compact with dimensions of 100mm H x 122mm W x 82mm D.

Thanks to adoption of the latest L.E.D technology, the light has a very low current draw (0.4A at 12V and 0.2A at 24V) plus the benefit of exceptionally long service life. For ease of fitment and durability, stainless steel mounting hardware is also included as standard.

As an added bonus the Blue-Spot L.E.D safety light is supported by a 5-Year L.E.D Narva warranty.

Elevated Training can provide further information on forklift safety lights, mounting them and the best ways to keep your workers safe and in compliance with Australian OHS standards.