Forklift Safety Awareness: A Practical Canadian Guide
Forklift / Powered Industrial Truck Awareness — Safety Checklist
A 20-point checklist drawn from the course material. Use it alongside — not instead of — your equipment’s manufacturer instructions and your site’s safe-work procedures.
Educational information based on Orientra course content, Manitoba’s Workplace Safety and Health Act and Regulation 217/2006 (Part 22 — Powered Mobile Equipment), and the Manitoba Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Powered Lift Trucks. This is general guidance, not legal advice. CSA B335 is a voluntary consensus standard, not Manitoba law. Always follow the current regulation, your equipment’s manufacturer instructions, and your workplace’s safe-work procedures.
- There are 7 forklift classes (Industrial Truck Association); operator certification is class- and model-specific
- Stability triangle: 2 front wheels + 1 rear pivot — centre of gravity must stay inside
- Tip-over conditions: overcapacity, shifted load centre, raised/tilted mast, fast turns, uneven floor
- Rated capacity is at a SPECIFIC load centre + lift height; real loads de-rate per the data plate
- Rated capacity assumes a standard pallet (e.g. 48×40 in) at a 24" load centre — a deeper, wider, or off-centre load de-rates capacity and shifts the centre of gravity
- Attachments (drum clamp, fork extension) reduce safe capacity
- Even a "light" load can tip the truck if conditions stack
- Pre-start inspection every shift — MR 217/2006 s.22.15 requires a visual inspection before the truck is operated
- Inspection covers walk-around + key-on + engine-running + brake test
- Defects: OUT OF SERVICE tag, do not operate, notify supervisor
- Inspection log signed every shift; supervisor periodic review
- Travel: forks low, mast back, walking-pace speed in pedestrian areas
- Pedestrians: priority under the site traffic rules; eye contact before passing
- Mount and dismount with three-point contact — three of your two hands and two feet in contact with the truck, facing the machine; never jump off
- The pedestrian — not the operator — is the one with no protection: no guard, no belt, nothing between them and the truck
- Best control is physical separation: marked routes, protected walkways, barriers, separate doors
- When sharing space: operators go walking-pace, horn at corners, eye contact; pedestrians keep priority (site traffic rule) but never assume they are seen
- Never walk under raised forks, ride the forks, or pass through a forklift blind spot
- Spotters use agreed signals from a visible position clear of the truck path
- A written, posted site traffic management plan separates people and trucks
Train with Orientra
This is an awareness guide — it builds hazard recognition for people who work around forklifts. It does not authorize you to operate a forklift and is not the employer-issued operator certificate. Operating requires training plus a hands-on competency evaluation on the specific truck.
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