Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Ahead of a prospective rulemaking to revise standards nearing their 50-year mark, OSHA is requesting information on the types, age, and usage of powered industrial trucks; vehicle maintenance and retrofitting; how to regulate older powered industrial trucks; types of accidents and injuries associated with operating such machines; plus, costs and benefits of retrofitting the machines with safety features. The agency adopted a powered industrial truck standard, now categorized CFR 1910.178, in 1971 and used an American National Standards Institute document issued two years prior as the basis.
Powered industrial trucks include forklifts, tractors, platform lifts, motorized hand models, and other specialized plant or yard vehicles powered by an electrical motor or internal combustion engine. OSHA will weigh comments and materials submitted through June 9 to the electronic portal to determine what action, if any, it may take to reduce regulatory burdens and create jobs while improving worker safety. Written comments and printed materials—labeled Powered Industrial Trucks, OSHA–2018–0008—can also be mailed to the OSHA Docket Office, Room N–3653, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210.