Forklift Safety
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
A PCBU's (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) primary care of duty is to provide a work environment without risks, provide a safe and maintained plant and structures and provide safe usage and training. The changes are based predominantly around responsibility and systems
- Must provide a safe and maintained plant and structures - this includes machinery, vehicles and tools.
- Must provide and maintain safe work processes and systems additionally ensuring that the plant is safely used. Meaning systems must be in place for paperwork and compliance, and training must be provided.
- Responsibility to notify all incidents - therefore the idea is to avoid incidents by having good systems and processes in place to prevent recurrence.
There is plenty of information available now on the Business HSWA website now, with resources available, videos etc - check it out for yourself.
Read about the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 here.
Click here for the full legislation
Nelson Forktrucks can help you with your requirements under the act.
NFL can help you comply with your obligations under the new act by;
- Giving advice on what you require for your forklift;
- Does your forklift require Registration and Warrant of Fitness? We assess where you are using your forklift.
- Arranging Registration & WOF. Initial Registration with LTSA ($190) of your forklift in the correct class (just like your car this includes number plates and proof of ownership) once this initial registration is completed you will receive the reminders for registration directly from LTSA ($60) per year.
- Checking your forklift plant is up to a safe working standard as per the manufacturer’s guidelines and issue a Safe Equipment Compliance sticker for your forklift.
- Providing a paperwork system that you can keep as proof of your maintenance system which includes;
- Providing the client with a copy of the Warrant of Fitness/Safe Equipment Compliance Inspection and relevant Planned Maintenance Inspections.
- NFL have available for purchase ($65+) the NZS Standards book, which should be kept with each forklift, this booklet is a comprehensive instruction on every aspect of forklift ownership, your obligations, the specifications, the operator's responsibilities. Our copy includes a page to note all the specifications of each forklift and a daily operator checklist for operators use.
- Monitoring how often you need to have your forklift checked and maintained (depending on your usage, hours & place of use, as per the manufacturers recommendations) and remind you when and what is due.
- Providing safe products and parts, and safety products, ie man cage with a harness, attachments, signage, warning decals etc.
- Providing safe working rental forklifts, long or short term.
- Advising you where you can get your staff trained for forklift operation and “F” endorsement licences.
Offering solutions around “Contractors Onsite” – our NFL staff.
- Our service vehicles are self-sufficient, we carry all of own PPSE, eyes, muffs, vest, hard hat, gloves etc.
- We carry our own fire extinguisher & First Aid kits, also our technicians are trained First Aiders.
- If you designate an area for us to work in, (mark it off and put it on your site plan) we will use our own cones and barriers to provide a safe working environment – this way we won’t need to know all the hazards of your whole site, just the basics like signing in and out at the office.
- We carry 'lock out' tags – so that we can lock out unsafe machinery and eliminate this from use, until the repair is completed and tag is removed by us.
- We have a hot or noisy work procedure which involves getting authority from the site supervisor prior to doing this; generally this type of work is carried out offsite in our workshop and should only apply in a breakdown situation.
NFL have a Client Health & Safety Log in area on our website, from here you can view and print what you require
- Our H & S Plan
- LTSA Authorisation
- First Aid Certificates
- Qualifications
- OSH Forklift Operators Certificates
- Public Liability Insurance Certificate
- Hazard Control Procedure
- Lock Out Procedure
Current NZ Safety Standard for Industrial Lift Trucks NZS/ANSI/ITSDF B56.1 2005 Updated 2009
This booklet is the approved NZ Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks, powered and non powered industrial trucks. This is a comprehensive booklet on all aspects of Forklift Ownership, from the minimum specifications of the machine, modifications through to the operation of the machine.
We note particular interest in
- Rule 4 General Safety Practices - which has relevance regarding modifications, nameplates etc and the operation of the forklift, 4.19 Operator Training - which states that personnel have to be trained , and goes on to state what should be in the training program - we get our staff trained by an outside company that specialise in this area.
- Rule 5 Operator Responsibilities, which has many rules about operation and modification, but of particular interest is Rule 5.5 which clarifies what the operator is required to check on the forklift prior to each shift.
- Rule 6.2 Maintenance and Inspection - Scheduled planned maintenance should be followed in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications, by trained authorised personnel. This rule also states that the machines should be regularly cleaned so that cracks and broken parts can be observed.
We believe a copy of this booklet or the Operators Manual for each forklift should be kept with the machine for reference for the driver and owner of the forklift.
We have now made a new page - called Notifications and Publications for up to date links through to relevant and interesting Health & Safety issues.
Safety Flashing Lights
Do you need one? We recommend them, is your forklift working in an area with pedestrian traffic? Many places require them. Ask Jeff about options for your forklift.
Client Information Area
You will see on our homepage that on the top right hand corner there is a Client Log In area, in this area we have available for download all of our Health & Safety documents, all PDF's, of our policy, procedures, certificates etc. If you would like access to this area email admin@nelsonforktrucks.co.nz and then you can print off yourself the documents that you require.
Safe Sites
Can you designate an area at your workplace to service vehicles in? Mark it off, put it on your plan as a designated service area. We wont need to know all of the hazards of your site if we are restricted to that one area. We will still be required to sign in and out of your site and know some basics - but this keeps it simple and easy. Our vehicles carry all of the necessary PPSE, Cones, First Aid Kits, Fire Extinguishers - so we are self sufficient.
Insurance $$$$$
One of our clients were driving their unregistered forklift in a yard (which had access to the public) and backed into a car, the insurance company asked the question "was the forklift registered and WOF?" Basically the idea is that if your vehicle is not registered or WOF should it be on the road? What are he definitions of a road? Might be worth checking with your insurance company about this scenario.