Don't fight the forklift

[PATTERNPART]

[Roger Dodger]

[Little Bob]

Ouch.

What's the story...?

[PATTERNPART]

I was leaving the yard of the factory where I work when a forklift truck appeared from behind a building and whammo. I can only see the results of one fork. I'll have another closer look to make sure the other fork hasn't damaged the wheel or tyre or anything else. It was daylight and I was on a designated vehicle route. There were several witnesses. Unfortunately the forklift was coming out of a newly opened yard next door. The connecting gate is too narrow for anything else and isn't used very often. I think we will have to find a safer way of moving between the two areas. There was another car parked which obscured the view of both drivers. A red MX5 Mark III.

[SimonV8ster]

Jesus - lucky he didn't have his forks any higher

[MX-5 Lazza]

Aren't they supposed to drive around with the forks up above head height?

[PATTERNPART]

I've got a basic forklift license and you are supposed to keep the forks low for travelling, with the tips tilted up a little bit. So my colleague was doing something right.

[Digby]

PATTERNPART said:

I've got a basic forklift license and you are supposed to keep the forks low for travelling, with the tips tilted up a little bit. So my colleague was doing something right.

Correct.You want them approx bottom of someones shin height.Lower = ankle tearing territory, higher and you will take out a knee.A shin is going to be a much easier repair!

Way up in the air and you risk taking out power cables, shutter doors, peoples heads and any number of other things.


Sorry to hear about the damage :/ Not that it will help, but it looks pretty rust free in there!

[PATTERNPART]

A smashed ankle or knee would be horrendous. I think having the tips up may also allow the machine to skid over the top of an unseen obstruction rather than jam into it. Then there's the business of travelling with a load tilted back for stability. Good to keep the habit going loaded or not. When parking one should tilt the tips down and get the length of the fork to contact the ground as opposed to creating an ankle tripping gap at the front. I have a health and safety exam on Monday! I prefer the practical examples to the legal stuff!

No rust in there. Will spray some gloop over it and tape it up until the repair is made. Quotes today.

The incident was captured clearly on CCTV!