Motorised Lifting Aids

Another way of moving a load is using a motorised lifting aid, but these do require special training, so if you do need to move something and you have one of these on site, then you can not use them unless you are qualified to use them and you are allowed to by your employer. Now, there are different types of motorised lifting aids, this is a 3-wheel forklift, there are different versions of forklifts from 4-wheel versions, the reason for three and four is this is much more manoeuvrable. And then you have the larger vehicles for moving outdoors and telescopic loaders and things like that. But they are only to be used by competent people, so it may well be the load you need to move and you are not able to move it yourself using one of these, but you would need to make sure you get the competent person who is licensed and okay to use it and approved by the employer to move the object for you.

Now with forklift trucks or any other mechanicalised aid, you need to keep yourself safe. So you need to follow the workplace policies and procedures. You may will need to wear Hi-Vis clothing, you may have to have special shoes, gloves, hard hats, but this will vary on different employers and where you are actually working. So the main thing with working around near forklifts is keep out the way the operator can see all around, and they are ultimately responsible for your safety, but you do need to make sure that you are not in a blind spot of theirs and you are not anywhere near the truck, at all. So if you need to talk to them, you do not want to walk straight up to them and talk to them, because it may will be, you get yourself injured.

Some fork trucks will have lights shining down on the ground with red lines, so it shows the direction of travel, which shows safe areas around the vehicle, but generally speaking, keep well away from them and if you are not sure always ask your employer what the policies are within the trucks. Now, this is a large scale trucks, you may also see small ones, which are types of mechanicalised aid lift, you just push along and these will just lift up pallets and loads. And again, these do need to be used by competent people only. Just because you have used a machine like this in your previous employment, does not mean you are necessarily allowed to use it in this employment. So to summarise, motorised lifting aids are available, but you do need to make sure that you are able to use it and you are properly competent to use it and qualified and allowed to by your employer.