Forklifts are an essential key to a modern warehouse, increasing efficiency of both time and usage of space. However, in order to enhance the safety and performance of the machinery, it is important that your workspace is equipped with heavy duty flooring. There are reputed to be over 8,000 reported accidents involving the use of forklift trucks in the UK each year and some of these result in fatalities. By making sure you have a suitable industrial flooring in place, you can help to make sure the forklift is operating safely and lower the risk of accidents taking place.
An accident waiting to happen..
Many forklift accidents are caused by a lack of sufficient training for the operator, an operator error, or a lack of knowledge about the equipment and the working environment. However, bad truck maintenance, poor lighting conditions, inadequate gangways and unsuitable premises in which forklift trucks are used in can also cause significant damage to the actual vehicle and driver.
Preventing accidents in the workplace
Structural damage to a building or racking system can be highly expensive and in extreme cases mean your company may have to stop trading for days or even weeks whilst any damage is repaired. Post Protectors, Column Guards, Guard Rails & Bollards are all essential additions to racking and structural roof support columns in order to safeguard various parts of your warehouse when a forklift truck is in operation.
Significant expense
As a general rule, forklifts have an economic life of approximately 10,000 to 12,000 hours. This varies based on maintenance practices, operating conditions and the type of equipment used. With an average cost of around £10,000 a Forklift Truck is a significant expense to any business and hence needs to be looked after. As well as regular maintenance a fork lift truck needs to be used correctly to ensure it stays functioning properly – for example electric forklifts should only be used indoors as wet conditions can damage them.
The importance of heavy duty flooring
All areas where the forklift is driven needs to have a heavy duty flooring and should be kept as flat as possible, remaining clear from any obstructions.
- Damaged or unsuitable flooring can cause all sorts of mechanical issues with forklifts, so it is vital your flooring is heavy duty. Hazards such as potholes or cracks can easily jeopardise the safety of the machinery.
- With solid tyres, forklift trucks have very little suspension – so any impact from a pothole can cause the driver to jolt – repeated jolting over a period of time can cause back issues and spinal injury.
- Continually driving over uneven floors and/or debris can lead to issues with the stability of the forklift. This means that the forklift could become unstable when used at a height.
Forklift flooring at PSC Flooring
At PSC Flooring as leading industrial flooring contractors we understand the importance of forklift-friendly flooring, and we are proud to be able to offer industrial flooring that is suitable for forklifts and other types of machinery – epoxy resin flooring. We recommend a high build Resdev Pumatect epoxy resin and an overall finish with definition of the trucking gangways in a contrasting colour. As a leading supplier of flooring solutions including epoxy flooring, we’ll assess your site before talking you through all of the best options that we can offer.
Contact us today
To find out more information about our anti-slip heavy duty flooring then head to our website today. Alternatively, you can call 01562 546006 to speak to a member of our helpful and friendly team.
If you have found this blog helpful, you may wish to read our previous blog on Colour Coded Epoxy Flooring.