This document summarizes regulations and standards regarding motor vehicles and material handling equipment from OSHA subparts O and N. It provides an overview of the key requirements including: ensuring equipment is stabilized before employees work underneath, maintaining minimum clearances for cranes near power lines, checking vehicles and equipment for defects before each shift, using audible alarms and spotters on equipment with obstructed rear views when backing up, prohibiting unauthorized passengers on forklifts, using safety platforms and railings when elevating personnel, requiring operator training and certification, and ensuring operators are competent and evaluated periodically.

1. Subpart 0, Motor Vehicles
Only standards cited 5 times or more
Draft 10 3 2018

2. Issues
• Explain common
forklift and motorized
equipment hazards
• Describe methods to
prevent prior
fatalities and
lawsuits.
• Photo by Joe Keenan

3. September 2018

4. May 2017
One dead
The men were working out of a
wooden crate perched atop a
hydraulic lift, loading doors into
a third-story window, according
to the Jacksonville FL Sheriff’s
Office.

5. May 2017
• A Menards worker was killed
Friday in what the Hennepin
County Medical Examiner is
calling a "forklift mishap"
while working at the
Burnsville MN store.
• 27-year-old Alec Saunders on
Tuesday.
• Witnesses say the worker
was trying to move two-by-
fours when the forklift
started to flip over. They say
he tried to jump off the
equipment and that's when it
landed on top of him.

6. May 2017

7. May 2016

8. Apr 2016

9. Apr 2016

10. Apr 2016

11. April 2016
• John,
• I have a customer who’s looking to have his son head up the formal
forklift training program for the rest of the employees.
• I mentioned the idea of Train the Trainer, so he can get certified, and
then train the other staff…
• Do you have any cost effective recommendations of vendors, online
certifications, or class you guys might be hosting in the near future?

12. Apr 2016

13. 11
24
37
47
50
602(c)(1)(vii)
602(c)(1)(viii)(A)
602(c)(1)(ii)
602(c)(1)(vi)
602(d)
Motor Vehicles, Mechanized Equipment, & Marine
Operations [1926.600 – 606]
13
INDUSTRIAL TRUCK OPERATOR TRAINING
INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS ANSI B56.1-1969 REQUIREMENTS
MODIFICATIONS THAT AFFECT CAPACITY RATING
SAFE RIDING SPACE ON INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
SAFETY PLATFORM SECURED TO CARRIAGE OR FORKS
SUBPARTO

14. Motor Vehicles
• Heavy machinery, equipment, or
parts thereof, which are suspended
or held aloft by use of slings,
hoists, or jacks shall be
substantially blocked or cribbed to
prevent falling or shifting before
employees are permitted to work
under or between them.
• Bulldozer and scraper blades, end-
loader buckets, dump bodies, and
similar equipment, shall be either
fully lowered or blocked when
being repaired or when not in use.
1926.600(a)(3)

15. Motor Vehicles
• For lines rated 50 kV or below,
minimum clearance between the
lines and any part of the crane
or load shall be 10 feet
1926.600(a)(6)(i)

16. Motor Vehicles
• All vehicles in use shall be
checked at the beginning of each
shift to assure that the following
parts, equipment, and
accessories are in safe operating
condition and free of apparent
damage that could cause failure
while in use
1926.601(b)(14)

17. Material Handling
Equipment
• No employer shall move or
cause to be moved construction
equipment or vehicles upon any
access roadway or grade unless
the access roadway or grade is
constructed and maintained to
accommodate safely the
movement of the equipment
and vehicles involved.
1926.602(a)(3)(i)

18. Material Handling
Equipment
• All bidirectional machines, such
as rollers, compacters, front-end
loaders, bulldozers, and similar
equipment, shall be equipped
with a horn, distinguishable
from the surrounding noise
level, which shall be operated as
needed when the machine is
moving in either direction.
• The horn shall be maintained in
an operative condition
1926.602(a)(9)(i)

19. Material Handling
Equipment
• No employer shall permit
earthmoving or compacting
equipment which has an
obstructed view to the rear to be
used in reverse gear unless the
equipment has in operation a
reverse signal alarm
distinguishable from the
surrounding noise level or an
employee signals that it is safe
to do so.
1926.602(a)(9)(ii)

20. Material Handling
Equipment
• No modifications or additions
which affect the capacity or safe
operation of the equipment shall
be made without the
manufacturer's written approval.
1926.602(c)(2)(ii)

21. Material Handling
Equipment
• Steering or spinner knobs shall
not be attached to the steering
wheel unless the steering
mechanism is of a type that
prevents road reactions from
causing the steering handwheel
to spin.
• The steering knob shall be
mounted within the periphery of
the wheel.
1926.602(c)(1)(iv)

22. Material Handling
Equipment
• Unauthorized personnel shall
not be permitted to ride on
powered industrial trucks.
1926.602(c)(1)(vii)

23. Material Handling
Equipment
• Whenever a truck is lifting
personnel, the following additional
precautions shall be taken for the
protection of personnel being
elevated.
• Use of a safety platform firmly
secured to the lifting carriage
and/or forks
• “The standard places the obligation
on the employer to ensure that this
type of equipment is used to
elevate personnel only where the
manufacturer has designed it to do
so. ” 11/27/2001 interp
1926.602(c)(1)(viii)(A)

24. Material Handling
Equipment
• The training requirements
applicable to construction work
under this paragraph are
identical to those set forth at
§1910.178(l) of this chapter
1926.602(d)

25. Materials Handling & Storage
[1910.176 – 184]
25
SUBPARTN
257
305
339
418
590
178(q)(7)
178(p)(1)
178(l)(6)
178(l)(4)(iii)
178(l)(1)(i)
POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS – COMPETENCY TRAINING
POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS – REFRESHER TRAINING IN RELEVANT TOPICS
POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS – CERTIFICATION OF TRAINING
POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS – SAFE OPERATING CONDITION
POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS – EXAMINATION FOR DEFECTS

26. Material Handling
Equipment
• The employer shall ensure that
each powered industrial truck
operator is competent to
operate a powered industrial
truck safely, as demonstrated by
the successful completion of the
training and evaluation specified
in this paragraph (l).
1910.178(L)(1)(i)

27. Material Handling
Equipment
• An evaluation of each powered
industrial truck operator's
performance shall be conducted
at least once every three years
• The "evaluation" of
"performance" required by the
standard cannot be met by a
written exam alone 8/1/2005
interp
1910.178(L)(4)(iii)

28. Material Handling
Equipment
• The employer shall certify that
each operator has been trained
and evaluated as required by
this paragraph (l).
• The certification shall include
the name of the operator, the
date of the training, the date of
the evaluation, and the identity
of the person(s) performing the
training or evaluation.
1910.178(L)(6)

29. Class 7 Rough Terrain Forklift
• Seven Classes

30. General Duty
• Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish
employment and place of employment which were
free from recognized hazards that were causing or
likely to cause death or serious physical harm to
employees in that employees were exposed to the
condition(s) listed below:
• On or about March 1, 2012, at the jobsite a forklift
truck operator was observed operating a forklift
truck without wearing the safety belt. Employees
were exposed to the hazard of being
struck/crushed by the forklift truck's overhead
protection device should the forklift truck
accidentally tipped over and resulted in the
operator being thrown out of seat.
• A recognized and feasible means of abatement to
correct this hazard is to ensure that operator wear
seat belt at all times while operating a forklift
truck.