Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
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potential manual handling problems at both the feed and 
discharge ends of the elevator.
10.5.2 Fork lift trucks
The most common form of mobile handling equipment 
is the fork lift truck (Figures 9.6 and 10.10). It comes 
from the group of vehicles, known as lift trucks, and 
can be used in factories, on construction sites and on 
farms. The term fork lift truck is normally applied to the 
counterbalanced lift truck, where the load on the forks 
is counterbalanced by the weight of the vehicle over the 
rear wheels. The reach truck is designed to operate in 
narrower aisles in warehouses and enables the load to 
be retracted within the wheelbase. The very narrow aisle 
(VNA) truck does not turn within the aisle to deposit or 
retrieve a load. It is often guided by guides or rails on the 
fl oor. Other forms of lift truck include the pallet truck and 
the pallet stacker truck, both of which may be pedes-
trian or rider controlled.
There are many hazards associated with the use of 
fork lift trucks. These include:
➤
overturning – manoeuvring at too high a speed (par-
ticularly cornering), wheels hitting an obstruction 
such as a kerb, sudden braking, poor tyre condition 
leading to skidding, driving forwards down a ramp, 
movement of the load, insecure, excessive or uneven 
loading, incorrect tilt or driving along a ramp
➤
overloading – exceeding the rated capacity of the 
machine
Figure 10.8
Conveyor systems: (a) Roller conveyor (these may have powered and free running rollers); (b) An overhead 
conveyor handling wheels. Other designs of overhead conveyor are useful for transferring components and garments 
between workstations, in for example manufacture of machines or clothing: (c) A slat conveyor in use in the food industry.
(c)
(a)
(b)

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