Why forklifts fall

There are many situations that can lead up to a tipping incident, but in all cases the trucks stability has been compromised by poor driving and poor understanding of the basic principles of forklift stability. At the heart of truck stability is the so-called Stability Pyramid. Forklift trainers recognise the pyramid as one of the most difficult yet important concepts to teach. A ma or problem ! recognised by health and safety regulators ! is that there is not enough training time to ensure this principle is actually understood. A# $ear of stability pyramid ! rear a%le centre pin &# Front of stability pyramid base '# Truck centre of gravity (# Forklift centre of gravity )# *oad centre F# 'ombined centre of gravity

Fig. "

How does the centre of gravity move?

The point that must be kept +ithin the triangle,pyramid is the combined centre of gravity -''./0. The truck itself has its o+n centre of gravity, typically about "1cm belo+ the drivers seat. 2n addition, the load has a centre of gravity ! the load centre ! typically 311mm for+ard of the fork backrest. These t+o forces form the combined centre of gravity# a ne+, moving, centre of gravity that must stay inside the Stability Pyramid. 2f this point moves beyond the front of the pyramid, the truck +ill tip for+ard. 2f it leaves the pyramid to left or right, the truck +ill tip side+ays. 4hen stationary, the ''./ can al+ays be found on a line dra+n from the trucks centre of gravity to the load centre ! as the load is lifted, the ''./ moves up+ards +ith it ! into a smaller and smaller triangle5

Why is it a triangle?
6any forklift drivers struggle +ith the idea of the base of their stability pyramid being a triangle and not a s7uare +ith a +heel on each corner ! especially on a four +heel forklift. 2n fact, the pyramids base oins the front t+o +heels on the ground +ith the pivot point on the rear steer a%le ! so even on a four +heel truck, it is a triangle, +ith one point over the rear a%le pivot.

6ost people think of a 8pyramid as having a s7uare base, like those in )gypt. A triangle-based pyramid is actually called a tetrahedron. 9eeping the ''./ inside a triangle is even harder than a s7uare, because it is smaller:

More height, more danger

&ecause the pyramid rapidly narro+s to a point, loads that are very stable at lo+ lift height 7uickly become unstable at higher lift ! as the ''./ must be kept in a smaller and smaller triangle. At high lifts, this triangle can be surprisingly small ! +ith very little margin of error.

More speed, more danger

;nfortunately the centre of gravity is not the only force at +ork. 2n a moving truck there are additional forces ! caused by the trucks acceleration and deceleration. )ven 7uite gentle braking can move the effective ''./ for+ard ! out of the triangle ! creating the risk of tipping.

Fig. <

A# (irection of travel &# 'entrifugal force '# =et force (# Acceleration force

4orse still are the dynamic forces caused by turning ! +hich push the truck side+ays in the opposite direction of the trucks turning direction. See figure <. These forces may be small at lo+ speeds, but they do move the ''./ and +ith an elevated load there is a very small triangle to keep the ''./ +ithin. This is +hy properly trained drivers +ill never manoeuvre or travel +ith an elevated load.

No load, no danger?
(riving +ithout a load is not a guarantee against a truck overturning. ;nloading a vehicle moves the ''./ to the rear, increasing the risk of tip over. And this is fre7uently seen +hen oyriding in an unloaded truck. Forklifts are designed for manoeuvrability and pulling po+er ! not performing sharp turns at speed or harsh braking.

On solid ground
The stability principles +ork fine on flat solid ground, but +here there is any form of gradient at all, stability +ill 7uickly become critical. 4orking on ramps is common for forklifts, but trucks are their most vulnerable here if the load is elevated. For this reason trucks should al+ays reverse do+nhill +ith the load as lo+ as possible. .utdoors, the dangers increases greatly. A +heel going do+n a small hole or up on a small ramp +hile the load is high can be sufficient to tip the truck over.

Attachments
2f an attachment is used ! like a bale clamp ! the increased front-end +eight moves the ''./ much further for+ard... significantly increasing the possibility of the truck tipping for+ards. 2t is vital, therefore, for a driver to fully understand the changed performance characteristics of a forklift +ith an attachment.

Their lives in your hands

$emember, there is no such thing as a forklift truck accident. An 8accident is an incident of bad driving, bad training, bad maintenance, a bad +orking environment or any combination of these.