Abstract

This report summarizes the evolution of the research conducted since the early 1990s on the effectiveness of wearing a safety belt and other devices as protection for lift truck operators in the event of lift truck rollover. It describes the tests carried out by the Université de Sherbrooke and the IRSST, in collaboration with the INRS in France, to determine the contribution to safety of various devices, including safety gates, armrests and seats with wings, combined or not with a pelvic safety belt. It emerges that the wearing of a safety belt alone or the presence of a complete door, combined with a head protection system, is a good means of protection against most of the injuries that can occur in the lateral rollover of a lift truck. The study’s results refute the belief that the wearing of a safety belt significantly increases the impact velocity of the body or the head on the ground. They also demonstrate that actions prescribed by the manufacturers, namely having both hands firmly on the steering wheel and bracing the feet against the cabin floor, contribute to safety, but do not ensure effective protection against serious injuries. The authors recommend that the wearing of pelvic safety equipment be regulated and that the studies already begun on the modeling and dynamic testing of lift truck rollover be continued in order to evaluate in the future the effectiveness of any other safety device proposed for protecting a lift truck operator during rollover.