Seatbelts on Forklifts

One of the most important things a forklift operator can do, is to wear their seatbelt. It is often a question we get asked and it does cause quite a lot of debates. "Do I have to wear a seatbelt on my forklift?". It isn't down to the employer to set the rules, or subject to risk assessment. It is your responsibility. The answer is YES, you must wear your seat belt on your forklift for the following reasons: 1. It's a legal requirement, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, section 7 states "to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work" 2. If the truck tips, the seat belt will prevent you getting crushed by your own truck by keeping you in the confines of the forklift. If anything ever goes wrong, the safest place you can be is in the truck. Sadly... all too often we see reports of operators losing their lives by being crushed by their own forklift. Be it by turning too fast or sharply, having the forks inside a load on a curtain sider lorry and the lorry moves or tipping over whilst turning on an include which forklifts are not designed to do. So, please remember, the first thing you do after completing your pre-use inspections; the first thing your should do before you turn the truck on is to PUT ON YOUR SEATBELT. You do it in your car habitually, so why wouldn't you do it on a Forklift?