In the UK alone it is estimated that there is a total of one hundred thousand forklifts which operate in the outdoors. With the cold weather, snow, ice and rain make sure you carry on reading Ability Handling’s top tips for ensuring that they are ready to run without any problem and stay reliable and safe to use.
Before anyone even uses the Forklift please ensure that you carry out vital maintenance checks. You can download our checklist for free direct from our site and then you can always check that everything is in working order before you operate the forklift.
Ensure that the forklift you are operating has the correct tyres and are suitable to operate in the cold and wet conditions. Not keeping up to date and on top of this can result in loss of vital business time. Oil and lubricants need to be checked on a regular basis as these help your engine to run smoothly.
Keeping a check on driver speeds, supervising and offering constructive criticism can help to reduce a number of safety risks. Good housekeeping is also an easy way to minimise the risk whilst preventing any slips, trips or falls. Removing debris from the vehicle can prevent it from becoming blocked. Gaining more traction for the forklift can be easy in snowy and icy conditions just grit the yard area.
Winter time means that there are reduced levels of daylight and visibility and this is for both drivers and pedestrians and so when operating your fork lift truck in these conditions ensure that there is suitable lighting on them and this is actually working.
Working in constant rainy and cold conditions can make a person feel miserable. Forklifts can be modified in such a way that they can incorporate a cab feature of a cover. They can even have windscreen wipers and heaters too. Although bear in mind that companies are responsible for staff – providing warm clothing can be just one simple way of raising staff morale as well as keeping your production line running smoothly.
In the case of a breakdown are you prepared? Having a member of staff designated to looking after your fork lift fleet can mean that you have less downtime and ultimately any problems that are encountered can be dealt with instantly to prevent any further damage through operation.
The fuel that your forklift needs to run off always need to be readily available. In snowy conditions it can be hard to get supplies of it quickly and so always make sure that you have a good stock level and that this is being stored in a secure and safe manner.
The winter months are hard enough for everyone, but with the snowy conditions it makes life that little bit harder for your forklift truck. Attachments can be fitted such as snow ploughs, scoops, salt spreaders etc and this can ultimately help companies through the winter months as well as making it that little bit easier for your forklift to operate.
In Safe Hands!
Our friendly service department at Ability Handling offers a guaranteed breakdown response time so your never left waiting around wondering how much longer we are going to be. All our service vans are fitted with a tracker device which means that we can effectively select the van closest to you, being able to rapidly attend emergency breakdowns.
Contact us, where we will be happy to speak to you in regards to your specific needs and requirements.
We are accredited by CFTS to offer competitive fixed price safety inspections, the thorough examinations, which incorporate Loler and Puwer checks have been passed with flying colours by Ability Handling.