Every year at least 100 people are killed or seriously injured when forklifts turn over. These tragedies could be prevented by proper restraints. Forklifts are a major cause of serious injuries and deaths in the material-handling industry. Manufacturers are quick to blame these problems on operator error. In fact, poor design, the lack of appropriate safeguards, inadequate warnings, and insufficient training are often the culprits.
Unlike cars, almost all forklifts have pivoted rear axles, allowing each side of the rear axle some independent motion. These “articulated” rear axles allegedly provide better traction. Unfortunately, they also create tremendous instability. Forklifts are driven by the front wheels and steered by the rear ones. That allows the forklift to take sharper turns – thus increasing the forces that can overturn it. With their high center of gravity, it does not take much centrifugal force to cause a forklift to overturn.
The problem really comes because all forklifts are equipped with overhead guards, a safety device which is designed to prevent operators from being injured by falling objects. When forklifts start to turn over, however, the overhead guard becomes an injury-causing device. Some operators try to jump clear of the forklift in an overturn, others may be thrown from the vehicle. In these situations, as the forklift tips over, the overhead guard may land on the operator who is trying to escape. The weight and force of these overhead guards have been known to cause serious injuries such as quadriplegia, paraplegia and brain damages. This type of accident is also one of the leading causes of forklift fatalities.
The forklift industry has managed to escape careful scrutiny by the government. Lawyers for victims, however, have been able to effect important changes. In the 1990s Clark Equipment Company designed and distributed an operator-restraint system in an effort to minimize operator injuries in overturns, but the system was not developed until after Clark calculated that the cost of installing operator restraints was less than paying the expense of jury verdicts.
Many manufacturers are more interested in the bottom line than in safety. It is only by continued successful prosecution of these cases that lawyers for those injured or killed will force manufacturers to act responsibly. Under the law of Texas,persons injured by defectively designed or manufactured products may have negligence or product liability claims available to them. The Law Office of Richard Schechter, P.C. has handled claims for serious injuries and deaths caused by forklifts and other defective products for over 25 years.
