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The OneTrack Guide to Forklift Safety

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Take the Blindfold Off Your Warehouse Operation

The OneTrack Guide to Forklift Safety

Learn how to build a video-based (and data-driven!) forklift safety program that will help you reduce MHE incidents, coach operators, eliminate false workers comp claims, and save money.

Something BIG Is Happening 4/17 That'll Change Warehousing For Years To Come

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^{Success Story}

See how this 3PL captured value from their forklift safety program

Holman Logistics' Forklift Safety Program.png

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Learn how Holman Logistics, a leading 3PL in North America, is using a video based forklift safety program to coach their operators, reduce costs, and keep their warehouses safe.

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Ensure every operator clocks out safe after every shift

OneTrack's AI Forklift cameras and safety tools give logistics leaders the visibility they need to help reduce forklift accidents, improve operator behavior, and lower costs. Explore how our Warehouse Intelligence platform can help you improve safety and drive ROI.

AI Forklift Cameras

Protect your warehouses and keep people safe with AI forklift cameras that monitor MHE for risks 24/7 and send real-time video alerts to help keep operations running smoothly.

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Dynamic Labor Management

Engineered labor standards are broken. Improve productivity in your warehouses by using AI to proactively alert you of risks, track your labor processes, and connect WMS timestamps with video context to make critical process improvements.

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Proactive Operator Coaching

Coaching shouldn't ONLY happen after a major incident. Get alerts of the leading indicators of MHE safety incidents to coach operator behavior proactively and change the culture in your warehouses.

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“OneTrack helps us keep the entire team safe, and that's what we need at the end of the day. It's one of the best products out there that I've seen and that I've worked with.”

^{Lina Recker}
Corporate Compliance Manager
Spartan Logistics

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Not sure where to start?

Start by picking the right technology to meet your goals. Learn why forklift cameras are worth the investment, and see how to pick the right forklift safety system for your warehouses.

Start Here

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Chapter 1: Select the Best Forklift Cameras for Your Warehouses

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Why invest in forklift safety cameras?

If you rely on forklifts and other MHE in your warehouses, you need to consider investing in a forklift safety system. AI forklift cameras bring deep visibility into operations so supervisors can coach operators, EHS leaders can build robust forklift safety programs, and logistics leaders can drive real ROI from warehouse safety.

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3 reasons to invest in forklift cameras

70%+ of forklift accidents are preventable (OSHA)
90,000+ forklift related injuries each year
10%+ of forklifts are involved in an accident each year

Something BIG Is Happening 4/17 That'll Change Warehousing For Years To Come

Register for the Reveal

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The benefits of forklift camera systems for logistics leaders

01. Never miss an incident in your warehouses

AI forklift cameras can be your eyes on the floor at all times. You get real-time, video-based notifications of every safety incident in your warehouse. Proactively coach your operators to improve the behaviors in your warehouse – from hard forklift impacts, phone use, product hits, and everything in between.

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02. Improve warehouse accountability

Once you start coaching your operators, it will completely shift the culture in your warehouses. Operators will start self-reporting incidents to supervisors, they will start stepping up and holding each other accountable for safe and productive work. Supervisors will get better at having tough conversations and become true safety champions in your buildings.

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03. Decrease unplanned MHE maintenance

You expect a certain level of MHE maintenance every year. But when forklift impacts start creeping up, racking gets damaged, and unsafe dockplate maneuvers start damaging tires — these maintenance costs can skyrocket. With a forklift camera system, you can cut down on this forklift wear and tear to keep your fleet (and budget) in top condition.

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04. Avoid false workers comp claims

Unfortunately, in warehouses workers comp claims are a fact of life. And it’s your job to investigate, collect evidence, and provide that to the insurance company. Just imagine if you had concrete video evidence to turn for every investigation. No more cycling though hours of CCTV footage or getting conflicting reports. Streamline your safety investigations and eliminate unnecessary payouts with AI forklift cameras.

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05. Minimize labor costs and turnover

Forklift camera systems can actually reduce labor costs in a few ways. For starters, after the initial rollout and operator buy-in there’s a huge culture change that comes. Operators know that safety is a priority and turnover goes down. Plus, with digital operator scorecards and video-based coaching tools, your supervisor team can upgrade their coaching conversations, and even streamline recruiting and onboarding top talent.

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In this chapter:

01. Understand the technology: What are forklift camera systems?

02. Evaluate your options: What are the different forklift safety options?

03. Select the right vendor: What to look for in a forklift safety system?

Part 1 — Understand the Technology

What are forklift camera systems?

Forklift camera systems are incredibly powerful tools to help improve your forklift safety programs. Especially when combined with AI. From coaching MHE operators to investigating workers comp claims, they can be used in a number of ways to greatly improve safety in your warehouses and can even help you reduce costs.

How forklift camera systems work

These systems work by mounting cameras on forklifts and other MHE equipment to capture footage of the operator and the surrounding area of the lift. The best forklift camera systems go beyond traditional GForce and telematics and use artificial intelligence (AI).

These safety systems use AI to monitor MHE equipment 24/7 (without needing to dedicate manpower). With AI, the system can detect a number of different safety events like impacts, harsh brakes, phone use, product damage and more. These systems automatically alert operations leadership to help provide better visibility and upgrade operator coaching and safety investigations.

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Expert Panel

How 3 Logistics Leaders Use AI Forklift Cameras to Improve Warehouse Safety

Hear stories from real logistics leaders about how they use technology to keep their warehouses safe and productive.

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Part 2 — Evaluating Your Options

What are the different forklift safety solutions available?

Not all forklift safety solutions are created equal. There are a number of different tools available, but what’s the best option for your warehouse? Let’s take a look.

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Forklift telematics systems

Forklift telemetry systems use a GForce threshold to notify you when an impact occurs and lock out a lift. Unfortunately, GForce is a static number. It can’t differentiate between a dockplate, a crack in the floor, or an impact, which can lead to false positive triggers.

This forces logistics teams to turn down the GForce threshold on their forklift telematics to a point where many safety events, impacts, and product hits slip through unnoticed.

Proximity alarms and pedestrian monitoring systems

These work a lot like your cars back-up camera. These proximity alarms produce an audible beep whenever the lift gets too close to something, and some systems can even slow down a lift whenever pedestrians are near.

These are great supplemental tools for a forklift safety program, but it’s like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole. Without addressing the root cause (operator behavior and accountability), nothing will really change.

AI forklift camera systems

AI forklift camera systems (like OneTrack) learns your unique warehouse processes and alerts you when things like forklift impacts or product hits occur. Beyond that, it allows you to be proactive instead of reactive after an incident.
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OneTrack is able to detect leading indicators of safety events, phone use, idle time, and can even monitor lift utilization and digitize your pre-flight inspections. We then give you robust reporting to help coach operators, improve process using data, and create the safest and fastest warehouses on the planet.

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Different camera configurations for your forklift safety program

Overhead

The overhead camera is the bread and butter of a good forklift camera system. This should provide you with a clear image of the operator as well as a 360° field of view around the MHE. The overhead camera is designed to provide actionable coaching opportunities by showing what an operator was doing when an impact occurred, or what process barriers may have led to an incident.

360° overhead view

Video coaching

Environment monitoring

Leading indicators & near misses

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EPJs

Similar to the overhead camera, it is possible to mount OneTrack AI cameras on electric pallet jacks (EPJs) and nearly any other type of MHE. This provides you with the same clear image of the operator that you get with a standard fork or clamp truck mounting, as well as a 360° field of view around the MHE.

360° overhead view

Video coaching

Case pick monitoring

Leading indicators & near misses

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Forward facing

Forward facing (or front facing) cameras are becoming more and more popular. From a quality standpoint these cameras are very powerful when it comes to costly processes like load validation. For your safety program, this can also provide a good POV when incidents happen, and you can even request that footage to help with a safety investigation that the MHE wasn’t involved with, but was potentially in the area.

Load validation

Quality checks

Workstation monitoring

First person POV for impactsStationary

Stationary cameras are typically mounted in the ceiling of a warehouse to monitor dock doors and staging areas. Great from a productivity monitoring standpoint but can also give you a birds eye view of critical areas in your warehouse and show safety incidents from a more holistic view. This shouldn’t be confused with traditional security cameras, as the AI is specifically trained to identify events related to safety, productivity, and quality — not necessarily security.

Dock-door and load monitoring
Free-space monitoring
Proximity alerts
Heatmap traffic monitoring
Case pick tracking (with WMS)

Yard Trucks

360° overhead view
Video coaching
Environment monitoring
Leading indicators & near misses

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Different forklift camera system features

Once you've landed on what forklift camera configurations best fit your needs, you'll also want to think about some of the most important features forklift camera systems offer as you evaluate vendors. From artificial intelligence to customizable analytics, here are the top forklift safety features to look for.

Artificial intelligence (AI): The best forklift safety systems are built with artificial intelligence at their core. AI makes it possible to go beyond just GForce to detect critical safety events and unlocks the ability to coach operators on leading indicators and near misses.

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Impact detection: The best forklift camera systems eliminate the feeling of coming into work, finding out there was an incident, and then when asked about it, saying “I don’t know”. And it shouldn’t just detect hard impacts. Soft impacts and rack bumps lead to more wear and tear, and therefore more maintenance dollars spent.

Real-time alerts: It doesn’t do much good to coach weeks after an event takes place. The best forklift camera systems send out alerts within minutes of a safety incident occurs, so your supervisor team can have prompt coaching conversations while the details are still fresh.

Leading indicators and near misses: The real differentiator between an AI system like OneTrack and a traditional forklift safety system. OneTrack is able to pick up on leading indicators and near misses (like not looking in the direction of travel or phone use during operation) so you can proactively coach operator behavior, before an accident ever happens.

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Field of view: This is what the forklift camera will actually see — and what you’ll see when an alert comes through! You want a good field of view, without compromising on resolution or angle. OneTrack uses a proprietary lens to maximize for both - giving you a crisp 360° view of your MHE.

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Internet connectivity: The beauty of an AI forklift safety system is that it doesn’t require someone to constantly watch footage and flag events. It does it automatically. But to get those alerts you need reliable connection. Cellular and wifi connectivity are must haves for your forklift camera system. With OneTrack we use a proprietary mesh network to ensure maximum connectivity.

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Audio alerts: It’s best to stay away from recording audio (for privacy concerns), but it is a good idea to have some sort of audio alarm built into your forklift camera. Similar to a seatbelt alarm in your car, this is an audible reminder for operators to complete their pre-flight OSHA inspections, when they travel into a restricted zone, or even for pedestrian detection.

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Customizable analytics: Video alerts are an amazing capability for site level improvements, but to make real change on a network level you need to unlock your data to spot safety trends. A system like OneTrack becomes your single source of truth for all warehouse data, with powerful out of the box Leader Standard Work dashboards, plus the ability to build custom reports to meet your needs.

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See how OneTrack AI Forklift Cameras Improve Warehouse Safety

Ensure all warehouse employees clock out safe after every shift with AI forklift cameras that analyze MHE in real-time and automatically alert your team of safety events with video evidence.

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Part 3 — Select the Right Vendor

What to look for in a forklift safety system?

With so many different solutions out there, it’s impossible to try everything. Instead, consider looking for a solution that combines the best features from each forklift safety category into one platform.

OneTrack’s Warehouse Intelligence platform offers AI forklift cameras, powerful forklift telematics, and AI labor management features all in one easy to use system.

Trusted by some of the safest and fastest warehouses on the planet, OneTrack monitors your operations 24/7, and within minutes of an event being detected, sends your team a video alert showing exactly what happened. This kind of deep visibility will help you take your forklift safety to the next level.

Currently evaluating forklift camera solutions? Book a custom demo today and see how an all-in-one forklift safety platform can improve your operations.

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^{Customer Story}

How Hain Celestial Reduced Forklift Safety Events by 80% with OneTrack

Hear from Hain Celestial's Sr. Warehouse Manager about how he upgraded his forklift safety program with AI forklift cameras to keep people safe and productive.

See the full story

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Make forklift safety a priority with OneTrack