Forklift stability and other technical safety issues - Monash University
Forklift stability and other technical safety issues - Monash University
Forklift stability and other technical safety issues - Monash University
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FORKLIFT STOPPING DISTANCES FROM MAXIMUMSPEED with 1.2 second reaction time3025STOPPING DISTANCES (m)2015105010 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34ActualMinimumMAXIMUM SPEED (km/h)Typically the increase in stopping distance is around 40% with a range of 10%-80%.In situations where collisions with pedestrians are possible, the extra stopping distance mayconstitute an unacceptable risk. In those cases speed limiting is a strategy to bring stoppingdistances down to acceptable lengths.To ensure stopping distances are not degraded, it is recommended that manufacturersor <strong>other</strong>s further develop intelligent speed limiters that reduce forklift speed as the loadbeing carried increases.AS <strong>and</strong> ISO st<strong>and</strong>ards - counterbalance forklift <strong>stability</strong> tests – side tipover when emptyIn 75% of cases of side tipover the forklift is empty. As noted above this is because adding loadincreases <strong>stability</strong> in respect of side tipover.The principal factors affecting side tipover are the centre of mass of the empty forklift, the speedof the forklift, <strong>and</strong> the radius of a turn.<strong>Forklift</strong>s are designed to be very manoeuvrable <strong>and</strong> so have tight minimum turning circles.Unfortunately this dramatically increases the chance of side tipping.Stability test 4 ensures that the forklift ALONE has a minimum level of side tip resistance.The graph below shows the lateral acceleration to which the forklift alone will be tested versusthe lateral acceleration possible at full speed <strong>and</strong> minimum turning radii.It is obvious that the test falls far below the levels of lateral acceleration that are achievable.11