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Safety Focus of the Week: Rigging for Forklifts
OSHA is now enforcing a new forklift requirement that all rigging be positively secured to the fork blade – a clamped or secured lifting device attached the fork blade to allow for a shackle or sling. The old industry practices of sliding the eyes or wrapping the sling to the fork blade are no longer acceptable.
Whenever hoisting with a fork lift, the following process should be followed:
- Evaluate the weight of the object
- Verify that the forklift has adequate lift capacity based upon the overall capacity, the location of the lift point on the fork blade, the height of the forks, and the angle of the forks. This information is available on the capacity chart and operators manual.
- Make sure that the lift is done on solid and level ground.
- Use a properly rated sling and fork attachment.
