Improper distance between pedestrians and forklifts can lead to adverse consequences! According to the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), nearly 34,000 accidents involving industrial forklifts occur each year, averaging almost 100 per day. Clearly, some measures must be taken to address this issue. The simplest and most obvious way to prevent accidents is to strictly separate the walking paths of pedestrians and forklift drivers. Every intersection and meeting area is a potential hazard. Therefore, pedestrians should take different routes from industrial forklifts whenever possible.

Maintaining a distance between pedestrians and operating forklifts is generally recognized as important, but in the daily operations of a warehouse, it is not always possible to keep them completely separated. So, how close can forklifts and pedestrians get to minimize the risk of accidents?

Workplace technology guidelines specify an absolute minimum distance of 1.25 meters, which is 75 centimeters of safety distance plus 50 centimeters of meeting distance. This is equivalent to the distance of two fully outstretched adult arms.

Of course, in situations where it is anticipated that human-machine encounters occur less than 10 times per hour, a greater distance may be necessary to account for the industrial truck's load width and the distance to pedestrians. In any case, the distance must not be less than this value. Conversely, if there is a higher frequency of oncoming traffic or pedestrians, the distance must be significantly increased.

But what if frequent contact between people and vehicles cannot be avoided? There are various methods to improve safety, such as setting up as many one-way traffic routes as possible within the warehouse, alternating the use of routes, and implementing time rotation auxiliary systems. Promising options include systems with sensors, lights, alarm transmitters, and receivers that signal to all road users when a person or object is approaching.