I have seen a number of operators talking while in the midst of operating a forklift. Usually I see it when I go to survey a location prior to us starting to do their training. The worst of these was a stand up reach truck operator (a truck that requires the use of both hands at all times) using a phone with no hands. He had wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder and we cruising through a shipping dock area full of co workers! I brough the issue to the attention of the shipping manager who notified his people and posted a sign saying if they used a cell phone while driving a forklift they would be fired on the first offense.

There was a fatal forklift accident here in the state of Ohio a year or so ago where both the forklift operator and pedestrian were both talking on phones and the forklift ran over and killed the operator. We use the video clip of this incident in our training. The operator faced jail to since he saw "something" but was too distracted to act. He ended up with probation and a one year suspension of his automobile license. We have modified our training to spend a considerable amount of time talking about potential distractions and the rules for dealing with them. The time operators save in doing it wrong is not worth the risks they take to themselves and others. I see "lack of focus" as the number one forklift hazard and cause of forklift accidents in the U.S. (just my humble opinion, not based on any factual research or study?

Hello everyone, I am new to the site and enjoy reading some of the comments. I am the company trainer and retired from the military before working here, so I have had many years in the training environment.
As for cell phones, I agree, "an accident waiting to happen". We do not allow cell phones, food or drink in any of our warehouses. Now, in some of our southern facilities we do allow water bottles on the lifts due to the heat in the warehouse.
Now just as with anything else there are a few that think they can get away with it and and beat the system, but they are dealt with on an individual basis.
Constantly sending out reminders in team meetings and making sure we inforce the policies that are in place are the only we can stop this from happening.
Looking forward to checking out all the discussion forums.

To joseph h: I believe that is where I saw that happen.

I don't cherish the thought of having to go do an incident
report and take the kind of pictures of the scene that this issue could cause. It's scarey enough now, setting forklifts back up on their wheels from "poorly" trained operators. You Safety Guys that have to go to the "Gory" ones, I do not envy you.

roadrat:

Apparently you haven't been in any of the big box stores lately. This is a common practice. Most of these stores use cell phones for work activity. It seems they also allow personnel to use their personal cell phones whenever and wherever they so desire.

This is just another indication of poor training or lack of training. It is also a good indication of poor supervision.

I agree with you that it is a bad practice to use a cell phone while operating a forklift truck (or any other powered industrial truck). It is an accident waiting to happen.

Good trainers will address this issue, as well as eating, drinking, or smoking while operating a forklift, as an industry best practice.

Don't hold your breath for OSHA or the safety community in general to address the issue.

I have only witnessed that once. It was one of these cell phone/intercom phones and the guy actually stopped the forklift before answering the phone, and stayed parked until his conversation was over. I was not training him at the time.