With forklifts constantly moving items from one place to another and visibility often compromised by narrow aisles and high stacking, the industrial equipment environment presents an element of risk.

At their busiest, warehouses can become sites of accidents or injuries if employees are not constantly vigilant or don’t have the right tools to do their jobs. Even the best warehouse optimisation tools cannot make up for human error caused by a lack of concentration.

With this in mind, 600SA Holdings, a division of EIE Group, a materials handling and industrial equipment group of companies, has introduced safety perimeter lights as a standard feature on all its CT Power electric forklifts.

600SA’s Inland Sales Manager, Sonia Pretorius, says safety is paramount for all 600SA-associated products. “In addition to urging our customers to provide training for their forklift drivers, we have now ensured that our CT Power forklifts are the most visible machines in any distribution centre, reducing pedestrian injuries and possible disabilities by up to 40 percent.”

Red laser lights are projected onto the warehouse floor from the sides of the forklift, creating a highly visible red, 1m perimeter or ‘barrier’ around the forklift. This allows warehouse employees to see the equipment from any angle.

In addition, a blue laser light projects 2m onto the floor from the back of the forklift, creating an early warning signal for anyone in close proximity to the machine when it reverses.

Pretorius says the lights are an ingenious way of alerting warehouse employees to the whereabouts of the forklift at any given time. “Considering the tight spaces that forklifts and people negotiate in warehouses and the overall focus on safety, it is surprising that CT Power is the only forklift distributor that offers these types of lights as a standard feature.

She says the safer a work environment is, the more productive employees are. “In fact, a 2017 Harvard study indicated that safety in the workplace made employees feel more engaged and increased productivity by 12 percent.”

“Not only do safety measures make people feel better about where they work, they also result in less downtime due to the reduction of accidents and injuries. This leads to greater efficiency and productivity – a win-win situation for everyone.”