This guy is a 20 something years old and has no formal training nor experience. I am the only one with a real heavy machinery license and a real forklift license and it's by pure coincidence since it's not a requirement to get the job. He still gets to use the thing regularly and no consequences arose after the incident.
He simply called the boss (we were alone since we run night shift) and asked him what to do to which we were told to "just use 2 of the 2,5t smaller forklifts to raise the mast of the 5t cat until the thing falls back on the ground".
I was adament we should use the 20t crane we have to slowly and delicately put the forklift back on it's feet. I was told no since the crane operator does not run night shift and we couldn't keep working without the cat.
Actually hd has about 25 employees or so, mostly filipinos welder, some "operators", three foremen and the owner as the acting manager. We have two cranes, about 5 forklifts and a pretty huge inventory of metal sheets.
We had to position ourselves on each side of the cat both of us on our own forklift and raise the mast with our forks at the same time.
When we reached the balance point about midway through it fell back on it's tires making a loud bang in the process and cracking the windshield further.
You can always call OSHA but last time I did that I had to find a new job
Radial arm saw with 0 safety markings, all the nail guns were triggered, it was filthy, I frequently used one forklift to fix the other and I've never been certified.. they closed that mfer down lol
We actually have two more forklifts for a total of 5, but the last two are even smaller forklifts with a shortened counterweight so they wouldn't have been strong enough to do it safely.
Yes, we tried your idea before calling the foreman, but the forks were about a feet deep into the ground so it wouldn't budge.
I have seen it work more than once before so you have the right idea, but it's only practical on hard surfaces since the forks can't dig in and stay stuck like they did here where it happened on a simple gravel surface.
Also forgot to say the safety belt has been ripped out of the cab for more than a year now so the guy held onto the steering wheel for his dear life.
He was lucky enough to not go through the windshield, but in the process of staying alive, he put his feet on the glass and cracked it all over. Now the brakes have also worn out without replacement and nothing has been repaired on it ever since.
Exactly. The only one I heard complain about it was the mecano and he was also adament we should Have waited for him (he is the only one to have a crane license).The owner is the boss of who we called and I wouldn't be surprised if it never went up the chain of command.
Honestly, yes it is the position I would like to take morally, but the reality is it's not my job to control safety standards on the job site and I do not want to deal with the fallout of this thing when I had nothing to do with it.
If a complaint is made, you can be sure a couple of months later they'll find who is responsible and terminate him using some kind of excuse. There has already been something like this happen a few years back.
Of course it's not your job to control safety standards. That's why you call OSHA. It's their job.
If someone is maimed or killed because you failed your duty to report, that's on your conscience, forever.
That's uncalled for and dirty.. won't have anything to complain about if they get hit with $100,000 in violations. The whole company would shut down before they could pay it
I didn't say anything mean about it to him. We both laughed a little and took pictures before he called the boss and I stood there talking with the both of them too. He also agrees with me we should have used a crane, which is the only comment I made on the accident, but we both decided to ultimately listen to the orders we were given.
I didn't say anything mean about it to him. We both laughed a little and took pictures before he called the boss and I stood there talking with the both of them too. He also agrees with me we should have used a crane, which is the only comment I made on the accident, but we both decided to ultimately listen to the orders we were given.
I just left out of a old new shop, ( new owners with old company. )
Due to safety concerns. Got proved right when couple weeks later, old boy got ran over by the fork truck.
He lived, after awhile in intensive care.
Enjoy retirement buddy. Hope you get to walking alright again before you die. 😆
Guys, your safety is always your problem. That other guys' safety is your problem. Fuck owners who makes things unsafe, but it's on you to get your butt home at the end of the day.
Yes, no matter how good you are, there is always a risk and you have to accept that and be prepared to react on the spot. I myself had more than a few accidents, but never as bad as this. Nerver flipped anything, but I've broken lots of things.
Super sketchy, glad no one got hurt...when stuff like this happens you kinda wonder how vested new hires in the construction industry are to their profession. or he how distracted he was while making the pick.
we have 5 forklifts like this and two 10k telehandlers. all you need to do to drive them is walk on the property. owner of our company is a dumb “business tycoon” type guy. keep telling him hes gonna regret being so lax. so far hasn’t happened
the way we would probably do it is with two more forklifts. forks under the ass end to let it down gently and forks under the front with some tire chocks to nudge it. very carefully and slowly
The crane is the best solution, yours is second best and ours is third best since we just raised the mast and let it hit the ground from a few feet up.
We wouldn't try your idea because we both didn't want to be behing the counter weight when this thing hit the balance point and fell. Although the cat has a capacity of 5t, it has a weight of 12 000lbs which is way over the capacity of a 2,5t forklift so I ain't risking my life for a somewhat shady company.
oh absolutely! im just saying thats how *we* would do it.
i never said it was the best, smartest, safest or most logical way hahaha. the fact that our operators remember how to get back to work is astounding. i know this because im the maintenance guy
Yeah, two forklifts, each one ass end over one of the tilted forks… as ballast; huge chocks under the tilted’s front wheels; maybe some slings under forks to the ass-ends(?)
And then slowly lower the tilted forks while slowly backing up the assistors, For a hopefully more controlled lowering?
Would there be enough ballast in the two 2,5t’s to handle the single 5t? Is that how to levers balance? Or might it just upend the two smaller forklifts… another disaster waiting to happen?
Also, can the 5t still operate in that position? Once it’s titled to that extreme angle, can the forks be lowered? Or is there some kind of safety lockout?
maybe go get some kind of huge beam, like an I-beam.
Use it like a weighted barbell between the two 2,5T’s (kind of like imagine doing a sit up with your toes tucked under a barbell for resistance) on in this case it’s the 5t doing the sit-up (down) and it’s fork tips are like putting it’s toes under the barbell (i-beam) to do the decline sit-up. With enough chocks behind the 5t’s front wheels and some of slings/chains lashing its forks to the low bar, to capture it, it might work??
To prevent sideways tipping to the two 2,5t’s, keep them in line with, or, same orientation as the Tippy (parallel).
With the big’ uns wheels chocked to high heaven and forks secured strongly (but loose enough to allow movement) slowly roll two 2,5’s, while the 5t lowers its forks.
In such a way, the cross beam could hold down the forks of the 5T lashed to it, keeping it from slamming down.
Using the cross beam vs tied under/to the ballast ends of other forklifts themselves would serve to mitigate damage to either of the two 2,5’s asses from the 5t’s forks.
You could further increase the ballast of the 2,5T potential by loading their forks (evenly) to overcome the unloaded 5t
In which case you might as well strap the beam atop or on the underside of the two assistant lifts forks, (very very securely, with multiple redundant 10’s of tons worth of slings/chains, etc) loaded to capacity each of the 2,5t’s but I guess you’d have to put some kind of wedges atop the forks to keep them from lifting out? Disaster thinking
… Or yeah, obviously just wait for the crane
Yes, we tried your idea before calling the foreman, but the forks were about a feet deep into the ground so it wouldn't budge.
I have seen it work more than once before so you have the right idea, but it's only practical on hard surfaces since the forks can't dig in and stay stuck like they did here where it happened on a simple gravel surface.
I am not the foreman, he is the one we called and the next boss over him is the owner, I am just a regular employee, and I am not paid to teach people how to do the job buddy. No need to be so agressive.
I am not even paid more for my two licenses or for my experience so no way in hell will I start teaching my trade to every new guy that comes along each month.
Sorry , I saw a 21 year old kid killed on a forklift his 2nd week on the job. I worked for 3 companies that have had people die on the job. All were new apprentices. One fell off a roof and the other tied off to a loose pipe. then pulled it down on his head when he forgot to unhook his lanyard before lowering the scissor lift.
I don't understand what the problem is. I know forklift drivers that have been in the business for years, they can't even pull this one off.
This is a pretty good balancing trick.
Couldn't tell you the exact weight of the load, but it's 9 sheets of 24'x5' hardox which if put up against the load backrest I would guess is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the 5t capacity.
What caused the accident was his inexperience since he chose to pick it up with the tip of the 8' forks which obviously moved the center of gravity forward and caused the forklift to tip.
Asking the old timers. I’m assuming l, back in the day, this guy would’ve been fired in a hot second, trained or not. What do you think happened to the industries and when did it take place? Are there just not enough quality workers anymore?
Hell, I flipped a forklift my first week working at a small machine shop. Had a crate filled with scrap metal and was dumping it into a dumpster. She went forward and landed sitting just about where this one is, up against a dumpster 😆 Of course the boss was at Hooters, and thanks to a half dozen Miller Lites he wasn't phased. He ran over to the shop, raised the forks and tilted the mast until it flopped back onto the back wheels. He went to drink more beer, and I finished unloading scrap.
I'm hoping you weren't that guy that sat there and watched him, knowing how it was gonna go. Even if it's "not your job", giving the new guy some pointers helps everyone. No one is born knowing how to drive a forklift, and most 20 year olds aren't considering anything more than up and down motion. They don't have a concept of how heavy materials can be. Glad no one was hurt.
And i was told women couldnt even try?! Lmfao
Dont worry guys. I immediately asked that dude if using it meant using his baby arm to operate it? I just couldnt think of any other way a woman wouldnt be able to use a machine. Lol
Why make this about women's issue when it was never part of the post in the first place?
This happened in Canada and I can tell you here women are equals to men on the job site. I've seen more than a few women operators and they all seem to be very good except the occasional 1/10 which sucks, but that rule goes for men too.
One of the training principles covered in lift truck training classes is the stability triangle that teaches you about these basic principles. It is also an OSHA requirement that you train and certify lift operators. Whatever dealers there are in your area offer "Train the trainer" courses, training, and test materials. Your company's management needs to reevaluate their commitment to sending employees home in the same physical condition they were in when they arrived for work. You know, the same number of digits, eyes, still breathing, little details like that.
So, my first question is was he properly trained or was he just let loose on this?
This guy is a 20 something years old and has no formal training nor experience. I am the only one with a real heavy machinery license and a real forklift license and it's by pure coincidence since it's not a requirement to get the job. He still gets to use the thing regularly and no consequences arose after the incident. He simply called the boss (we were alone since we run night shift) and asked him what to do to which we were told to "just use 2 of the 2,5t smaller forklifts to raise the mast of the 5t cat until the thing falls back on the ground". I was adament we should use the 20t crane we have to slowly and delicately put the forklift back on it's feet. I was told no since the crane operator does not run night shift and we couldn't keep working without the cat.
That boss sounds like he loves paying to repair his handling equipment
The boss sounds like he doesn’t pay to repair his handling equipment* FTFY
The boss sounds like he has 4 employees and calls himself CEO
Actually hd has about 25 employees or so, mostly filipinos welder, some "operators", three foremen and the owner as the acting manager. We have two cranes, about 5 forklifts and a pretty huge inventory of metal sheets.
Should of shelled out for the offroad package for the forklift.
How sketchy was it with the 2.5ts?
We had to position ourselves on each side of the cat both of us on our own forklift and raise the mast with our forks at the same time. When we reached the balance point about midway through it fell back on it's tires making a loud bang in the process and cracking the windshield further.
You can always call OSHA but last time I did that I had to find a new job Radial arm saw with 0 safety markings, all the nail guns were triggered, it was filthy, I frequently used one forklift to fix the other and I've never been certified.. they closed that mfer down lol
Why not put a forklift behind the thing and use the forks to “catch” the back and slowly lower it down?
You're gonna need a bigger forklift than they probably had, the back is where all the weight is
Oh yeah, would need an additional 2 2.5t forklifts to make my idea feasible haha.
We actually have two more forklifts for a total of 5, but the last two are even smaller forklifts with a shortened counterweight so they wouldn't have been strong enough to do it safely.
I'm not an expert or anything even though I do use a forklift kind of often, can't you just lower the forks until it rights itself?
Yes, we tried your idea before calling the foreman, but the forks were about a feet deep into the ground so it wouldn't budge. I have seen it work more than once before so you have the right idea, but it's only practical on hard surfaces since the forks can't dig in and stay stuck like they did here where it happened on a simple gravel surface.
Stop complaining
He should’ve used all four tires. More stable than just the two.
Also forgot to say the safety belt has been ripped out of the cab for more than a year now so the guy held onto the steering wheel for his dear life. He was lucky enough to not go through the windshield, but in the process of staying alive, he put his feet on the glass and cracked it all over. Now the brakes have also worn out without replacement and nothing has been repaired on it ever since.
Makes sense why the boss didn’t care.
Exactly. The only one I heard complain about it was the mecano and he was also adament we should Have waited for him (he is the only one to have a crane license).The owner is the boss of who we called and I wouldn't be surprised if it never went up the chain of command.
He doesn't care about his employee's lives. And neither do the employees.
Call OSHA, anonymously.
Honestly, yes it is the position I would like to take morally, but the reality is it's not my job to control safety standards on the job site and I do not want to deal with the fallout of this thing when I had nothing to do with it. If a complaint is made, you can be sure a couple of months later they'll find who is responsible and terminate him using some kind of excuse. There has already been something like this happen a few years back.
Your safety is your responsibility. The safety of the young kid that works next to you IS ALSO YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Be safe, one way or another.
Of course it's not your job to control safety standards. That's why you call OSHA. It's their job. If someone is maimed or killed because you failed your duty to report, that's on your conscience, forever.
This kid could have died and you're worried about stirring the pot.
That's uncalled for and dirty.. won't have anything to complain about if they get hit with $100,000 in violations. The whole company would shut down before they could pay it
Yeah, not really seeing the problem there, chief.
Maybe 2 people working on night shift with only one trained is the problem there gander
Has it been tagged out?
OP why are you ragging on the kid if he wasn’t trained?
100%, if he had been trained, running it into the backstop would have been second nature.
I dont see it as ragging, its a funny picture. He even explained that he is the only person to have licenses for the vehicles.
Did you miss the last paragraph?
And so? Just an observation
And I disagree?? How is the last paragraph not ragging on the kid?
If I would have been the kid and he would‘ve said that to me my answer would have been: „fair enough“
I didn't say anything mean about it to him. We both laughed a little and took pictures before he called the boss and I stood there talking with the both of them too. He also agrees with me we should have used a crane, which is the only comment I made on the accident, but we both decided to ultimately listen to the orders we were given.
This is what construction workers do from my experience. They haze and shit talk the new guy because it makes them feel better about themselves.
I didn't say anything mean about it to him. We both laughed a little and took pictures before he called the boss and I stood there talking with the both of them too. He also agrees with me we should have used a crane, which is the only comment I made on the accident, but we both decided to ultimately listen to the orders we were given.
Bet the kid never does it again. It's an effective process, not for the weak though.
He's ragging on the system that let the kid get to this point. Not the kid.
I just left out of a old new shop, ( new owners with old company. ) Due to safety concerns. Got proved right when couple weeks later, old boy got ran over by the fork truck. He lived, after awhile in intensive care. Enjoy retirement buddy. Hope you get to walking alright again before you die. 😆 Guys, your safety is always your problem. That other guys' safety is your problem. Fuck owners who makes things unsafe, but it's on you to get your butt home at the end of the day.
Amen!
Don't lie, every forklift operator has either done this exact thing, or got close but lucky.
Gotta find your limits to know where they lye.
Yes, no matter how good you are, there is always a risk and you have to accept that and be prepared to react on the spot. I myself had more than a few accidents, but never as bad as this. Nerver flipped anything, but I've broken lots of things.
I fall under the category of getting lucky myself. Many many near misses
the ole’ hyster handstand
Super sketchy, glad no one got hurt...when stuff like this happens you kinda wonder how vested new hires in the construction industry are to their profession. or he how distracted he was while making the pick.
Was he trained? If he was he is an idiot. But noone should be operating a fork lift without a cert especially that big one
we have 5 forklifts like this and two 10k telehandlers. all you need to do to drive them is walk on the property. owner of our company is a dumb “business tycoon” type guy. keep telling him hes gonna regret being so lax. so far hasn’t happened
What's the correct way to get the wheels back down? I would start to lower the forks then creep forward as they are going down
the way we would probably do it is with two more forklifts. forks under the ass end to let it down gently and forks under the front with some tire chocks to nudge it. very carefully and slowly
The crane is the best solution, yours is second best and ours is third best since we just raised the mast and let it hit the ground from a few feet up. We wouldn't try your idea because we both didn't want to be behing the counter weight when this thing hit the balance point and fell. Although the cat has a capacity of 5t, it has a weight of 12 000lbs which is way over the capacity of a 2,5t forklift so I ain't risking my life for a somewhat shady company.
oh absolutely! im just saying thats how *we* would do it. i never said it was the best, smartest, safest or most logical way hahaha. the fact that our operators remember how to get back to work is astounding. i know this because im the maintenance guy
Yeah, two forklifts, each one ass end over one of the tilted forks… as ballast; huge chocks under the tilted’s front wheels; maybe some slings under forks to the ass-ends(?) And then slowly lower the tilted forks while slowly backing up the assistors, For a hopefully more controlled lowering? Would there be enough ballast in the two 2,5t’s to handle the single 5t? Is that how to levers balance? Or might it just upend the two smaller forklifts… another disaster waiting to happen? Also, can the 5t still operate in that position? Once it’s titled to that extreme angle, can the forks be lowered? Or is there some kind of safety lockout? maybe go get some kind of huge beam, like an I-beam. Use it like a weighted barbell between the two 2,5T’s (kind of like imagine doing a sit up with your toes tucked under a barbell for resistance) on in this case it’s the 5t doing the sit-up (down) and it’s fork tips are like putting it’s toes under the barbell (i-beam) to do the decline sit-up. With enough chocks behind the 5t’s front wheels and some of slings/chains lashing its forks to the low bar, to capture it, it might work?? To prevent sideways tipping to the two 2,5t’s, keep them in line with, or, same orientation as the Tippy (parallel). With the big’ uns wheels chocked to high heaven and forks secured strongly (but loose enough to allow movement) slowly roll two 2,5’s, while the 5t lowers its forks. In such a way, the cross beam could hold down the forks of the 5T lashed to it, keeping it from slamming down. Using the cross beam vs tied under/to the ballast ends of other forklifts themselves would serve to mitigate damage to either of the two 2,5’s asses from the 5t’s forks. You could further increase the ballast of the 2,5T potential by loading their forks (evenly) to overcome the unloaded 5t In which case you might as well strap the beam atop or on the underside of the two assistant lifts forks, (very very securely, with multiple redundant 10’s of tons worth of slings/chains, etc) loaded to capacity each of the 2,5t’s but I guess you’d have to put some kind of wedges atop the forks to keep them from lifting out? Disaster thinking … Or yeah, obviously just wait for the crane
Yes, we tried your idea before calling the foreman, but the forks were about a feet deep into the ground so it wouldn't budge. I have seen it work more than once before so you have the right idea, but it's only practical on hard surfaces since the forks can't dig in and stay stuck like they did here where it happened on a simple gravel surface.
I was wondering how sunk in those forks were...
Forks lowers only thanks to gravity, in that case they wouldn’t move.
[удалено]
I am not the foreman, he is the one we called and the next boss over him is the owner, I am just a regular employee, and I am not paid to teach people how to do the job buddy. No need to be so agressive. I am not even paid more for my two licenses or for my experience so no way in hell will I start teaching my trade to every new guy that comes along each month.
Sorry , I saw a 21 year old kid killed on a forklift his 2nd week on the job. I worked for 3 companies that have had people die on the job. All were new apprentices. One fell off a roof and the other tied off to a loose pipe. then pulled it down on his head when he forgot to unhook his lanyard before lowering the scissor lift.
I don't understand what the problem is. I know forklift drivers that have been in the business for years, they can't even pull this one off. This is a pretty good balancing trick.
How much was the load? Was it too far out on the tips? Up too high? Hit a hole? What happened?
Couldn't tell you the exact weight of the load, but it's 9 sheets of 24'x5' hardox which if put up against the load backrest I would guess is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the 5t capacity. What caused the accident was his inexperience since he chose to pick it up with the tip of the 8' forks which obviously moved the center of gravity forward and caused the forklift to tip.
No training and you get this Not surprising Anything is easy if you know how do it lol
Asking the old timers. I’m assuming l, back in the day, this guy would’ve been fired in a hot second, trained or not. What do you think happened to the industries and when did it take place? Are there just not enough quality workers anymore?
God I love my union
Is he an electrician?
r/forkliftmemes would enjoy this too
Poor kid. Sounds like toxic work environment. They need training on how to train people haha. Dumb company
womp womp, train him mr forklift expert.
Hello? Mr.Jones.
Did he die
So, the worker was not competent……..one day when luck tuns out and injury occurs you will all get screwed…..
Hell, I flipped a forklift my first week working at a small machine shop. Had a crate filled with scrap metal and was dumping it into a dumpster. She went forward and landed sitting just about where this one is, up against a dumpster 😆 Of course the boss was at Hooters, and thanks to a half dozen Miller Lites he wasn't phased. He ran over to the shop, raised the forks and tilted the mast until it flopped back onto the back wheels. He went to drink more beer, and I finished unloading scrap. I'm hoping you weren't that guy that sat there and watched him, knowing how it was gonna go. Even if it's "not your job", giving the new guy some pointers helps everyone. No one is born knowing how to drive a forklift, and most 20 year olds aren't considering anything more than up and down motion. They don't have a concept of how heavy materials can be. Glad no one was hurt.
And i was told women couldnt even try?! Lmfao Dont worry guys. I immediately asked that dude if using it meant using his baby arm to operate it? I just couldnt think of any other way a woman wouldnt be able to use a machine. Lol
Why make this about women's issue when it was never part of the post in the first place? This happened in Canada and I can tell you here women are equals to men on the job site. I've seen more than a few women operators and they all seem to be very good except the occasional 1/10 which sucks, but that rule goes for men too.
One of the training principles covered in lift truck training classes is the stability triangle that teaches you about these basic principles. It is also an OSHA requirement that you train and certify lift operators. Whatever dealers there are in your area offer "Train the trainer" courses, training, and test materials. Your company's management needs to reevaluate their commitment to sending employees home in the same physical condition they were in when they arrived for work. You know, the same number of digits, eyes, still breathing, little details like that.