Common Forklift Accidents in Florida
If you’re working in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail, construction, or transportation industries, you’ve probably witnessed a forklift or workplace accident. Forklift accidents can be just as tragic as car accidents on the road. You need to know how to avoid them, and what to do in the unfortunate event that you get involved in one.
Here are the common forklift accidents in Florida:
1. Forklift rollovers
Like any other vehicle, a forklift may lose balance and roll over, especially when moving along uneven surfaces. It may also tip and roll over when one of its sides drives over an obstacle. Also, if the load isn’t balanced well, the vehicle may tip over.
Forklift rollovers may cause serious injuries to the driver and other personnel at the site. Some may even result in death or permanent disability. People need to be on the lookout for these forklifts at the workplace, or anywhere else, to minimize incidents of rollover injuries.
2. Crushing incidents
It is not common, butforklifts can crush people, especially employees and customers, against hard surfaces, such as walls, or barricades. A forklift may reverse blindly, running into a customer engrossed in their shopping experience. It may also lose control, and ram into the person overseeing the loading process.
These forklift accidents are common in Florida in wholesale and retail stores. It’s important for management to take measures to protect both staff and employees from forklift crushes by ensuring they warn everyone to be cautious when operating near a forklift. It’s also crucial to ensure the vehicles are well-serviced, and drivers are extra keen to prevent such incidents.
3. Forklifts hitting pedestrians
There’re also cases of forklifts hitting pedestrians as they move to deliver heavy loads to other vehicles in open spaces. They happen outside establishments close to main streets with people moving about as they attend to their daily routines, causing grim injuries, or even deaths.
You need to be extra vigilant as you navigate the streets, being on the lookout for forklifts. Like any other vehicle, they can move at speed, fail to brake, and hit pedestrians. It’s especially important if you live or work on a busy street with construction or retail and wholesale businesses, because such businesses involve lots of movement.
4. Falling loads from a forklift
The nature of the forklift doesn’t allow loads to be fastened or secured on the vehicle. The forks slide under the loads, then lift them before transferring them to another destination. The weight of the loads helps keep them in place, preventing slippage.
However, the weight of the loads may not be enough to keep the loads in place on the forklift. There are times the loads slip off and fall on people, causing serious injuries, or crushing them to death. This can happen if the objects are not properly balanced, or don’t fit well on the fork.
In addition to causing injuries to people, loads falling from the forklift can result in losses. This is because it can lead to damage to the items being loaded. Some goods may be damaged beyond repair, while others are by nature difficult to retrieve once they fall and break, such as containers with liquids.
5. Forklift runovers
A forklift may also run over a victim the same way other vehicles do. For instance, a forklift may be driven over a person’s feet. Its weight, because of the load, may be enough to crush the victim’s foot, and cause permanent disability. It’s also possible for a forklift to knock a person down and run over the person.
If you are working near a forklift, you need to be very careful to avoid such incidents. You may trust the driver, but this vehicle may sometimes be beyond human control. Certain factors may cause them to go out of control, including mechanical problems.
How a Florida Workers Compensation Lawyer
Forklift accidents in Florida have become rampant. Florida’s workers’ compensation requires employers to give compensation for anyone injured at work in the form of lost wages, medical expenses, and disability benefits. In fact, those employers with 4 or more employees are required to have workers’ compensation insurance.
But you need workers’ comp lawyers to ensure you’re adequately compensated in the event you’re a victim of a forklift accident in Florida. Thelawyers at Pardy & Rodriguez, P.A.have been providing personal attention to work injury victims in Florida for over 20 years, with a strong track record of success.
Call our offices today for a free consultation. We have office in Orlando, Tampa, Davenport, Bradenton, Kissimmee, and Poinciana. Our team can also provide phone and video call consultations.
