How to Prepare Your Forklift for Snow & Ice

When the weather turns cold and icy, it’s important that you’re making sure that your employees are safe when operating warehouse equipment, including forklifts. Forklifts are used for a wide range of different applications in the warehouse, including outdoor tasks. But outside jobs pose different threats when winter comes around, including snow, ice and frost, all of which can be dangerous, whether you’re on-foot or operating a forklift. So with this in mind, here’s how to prepare your forklift for snow, ice and frost.

Make sure your operators are fully-trained & well-protected

You need to make sure that the operator of the forklift is well trained when it comes to driving a forklift in the snow and ice. It must be operated in a different way from the rest of the year, even if it rains, especially when operated outside. They must know the turning procedures and the speed at which they should be travelling across ice, snow and frost during the colder season. In addition to this, they should also be given an extensive selection of protective clothing and provided with an array of safety equipment, such as a hard hat. Some of the PPE you should be supplying your employees with over the winter period are as follows:

• Fluorescent jackets and vests
• Thick, waterproof coats for outdoor use
• Steel-toed boots with excellent grip
• A hard hat
• A pair of thick, waterproof gloves
• Waterproof overalls to protect the clothing underneath from becoming wet and cold

Carry out forklift maintenance on a regular basis

It’s paramount that you’re checking the state of your forklift more regularly than you would do normally throughout the rest of the year. This is because the harsh weather conditions can cause things to change, literally, overnight. As such, you need to be checking that moving parts haven’t frozen over or seized up.

You must also make sure that you warm the vehicle up before driving away, because it needs time to adjust to the heat of the operating system as it will be quite the contrast to the outside temperature. Included in your checks, you need to make sure that you’re looking at the tyres, your fluid levels and also making sure your lights and beacons work, but we’ll get onto that in a moment.

Operate the forklift appropriately

We’ve already touched on the importance of operating the forklift in a safe manner during icy conditions, so let’s delve into that aspect further. You must take corners slowly and not travel across icy, frosty or snowy surfaces at high speeds. You must also check all of your blind spots, paying particular attention to your prospective path, because it will be a lot more difficult for you to slow down or brake in these wintery conditions.

In addition, you might find it challenging to brake at all, which is why you need to double-check that your path is clear. Your operators will know exactly what to do if they are up to date with their training or have received specialist winter training in the run up to the winter season.

If this is the case, then you won’t have to worry about your operators being safe during their winter forklift tasks. However, if you know that they need a refresh in their forklift training, arrange for this to happen as soon as possible before allowing them behind the wheel of any forklift during the cold season.

Use a variety of different forklift attachments

There are a wealth of different forklift attachments that you can purchase, generally, but you’ll find that there are a wide variety of forklift attachments that are specifically designed with winter operations in mind. For example, there is one available that can be attached to the forks at the front so as to be used to plough snow away from your premises. Multy Lift are pleased to provide an extensive collection of forklift attachments, so if you’re looking for some forklift attachments that can be used during the winter period, then give our specialist clean a call.

Check your forklift tyres

Just like how you need to check your car tyres in winter, you need to check the tyres on your forklift truck. This is to ensure you have enough tread on them. If you do, then your forklift will be well-equipped to navigate frosty, icy or snowy surfaces, provided you’re travelling at an appropriate speed. On the other hand, if they’re looking somewhat bald, they will need to be replaced before you operate it in the cold temperatures.

Some forklift operators like to use snow chains on their tyres, using them only when the weather turns bitter. There are multiple options when it comes to car tyres in the winter, but as long as they’re safe to drive on, you’ll be able to carry out your winter forklift operations smoothly and seamlessly, with very few interruptions.

Ensure all lights and beacons are working properly

You need to check that your lights on the vehicle are working properly. Not only does this ensure that you can see the path in front of you, avoiding tip overs and slippages, but it also makes sure that pedestrians on the ground know your whereabouts, especially as we hit daylight saving hours, when the sun goes down at around 4pm. Beacons are also imperative, as are alarms and other safety features. This is not only for the safety of the forklift operator, but the safety of those on the ground as well. Make sure that all of the aforementioned are checked before you attempt to operate the forklift.

Take care of your forklift battery

Your forklift battery can suffer in extremely cold temperatures, so you need to be checking its fluid levels and also the amount of power you have in it at this time. You can have the battery condition checked by a competent professional. However, to make things more simple, many warehouse owners will seek to store their electric forklift in a dry place, preferably indoors. This protects it from the icy cold temperatures, as well as the wind, rain, frost, ice and even hail.

Multy Lift is highly-experienced in the material handling industry, providing customers throughout the UK with a wealth of warehouse equipment and industrial cleaning machinery. From forklifts and reach trucks to order pickers and warehouse stackers, we will have a new or used material handling solution for you. For further information, get in touch with a member of our expert team today – we’re always pleased to hear from you.