Occupational Health and Safety First
The basic approach based on the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 is not to set rules and wait for compliance, but to take a preventive approach. Enterprises should take measures to prevent hazards in their workplaces by taking into consideration the points they have determined through their risk assessment studies. Although all the responsibility is laid by employers with the law, occupational health and safety is an issue that must be adopted and applied at every point of the enterprise. Therefore, risk assessment studies should be carried out continuously and both known risks should be reviewed and new risks should be recognized in a timely manner.
This law aims at the most appropriate conditions in terms of occupational health and safety and aims to continuously improve the current situation of enterprises.
What is important is not to determine what to do when occupational accidents occur or when occupational diseases occur, but to take steps to prevent occupational accidents and occupational diseases. For this reason, the enterprises are obliged to continuously identify potential risks and take the necessary precautions against them by providing the contributions of the employees.
According to the principles of the law, it is envisaged that businesses should be classified into a number of hazard classes in order to provide occupational health and safety services more effectively within the scope of their activities. In this classification, the characteristics of the works, the tools, equipment, operating methods and forms used in each stage, the conditions of the working environment and the resulting substances will be considered.
The determination of hazard classes was given to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. In accordance with this Law, the Ministry has published the Workplace Hazard Classes Communiqué on Occupational Health and Safety. Accordingly, when determining the hazard classes, the degree of danger of the main activity carried out in the enterprise is taken into consideration. If there is more than one activity subject in the enterprise, the activity subject with high hazard class is taken as basis. Attached to the communiqué is the List of Workplace Hazard Classes. This list was prepared by the Ministry based on the opinions of the main activities of the enterprises and a commission including the related social partners. In general, the classification is based on:
- Class A businesses operating in very dangerous class
- Businesses operating in dangerous class B class
- Class C enterprises with less hazardous activity
Businesses must have the occupational safety expertise certificate of the class they belong to.
An important aspect of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 is that occupational safety specialists, workplace doctors and necessary health personnel will be employed in all enterprises, regardless of the number and type of employees.
According to the law, occupational health and safety services should be provided by the personnel in the operational staff in certain periods. However, if the company does not have the necessary qualifications, these services, outside the enterprise, can be provided from the common health and safety organizations.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security provides financial support for the provision of occupational health and safety services to enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and those whose hazard class is very dangerous and dangerous.
What is Forklift?
The conditions of intense competition make it feel more and more pressure on businesses. Customer demands and expectations must be met at the requested time and with the highest quality. The enterprises that can achieve this gain competitive advantage in the market. However, companies avoid stockpiling due to high costs and often try to meet their needs on a daily basis. Businesses have to use their time and facilities in the most efficient way and therefore to act fast. As such, loading and unloading has become increasingly important. Loading, unloading and stacking movements are among the most important activities against time. On the one hand, it is problematic for businesses to act quickly and on the other hand to struggle with the constraints of warehouse and stock space and work space.
On the other hand, the necessity of working at high tempo decreases the attention of the employees in these places and causes work accidents. Accidents endanger the safety of life and property, as well as labor losses. In addition to the losses of processed products or raw materials encountered during loading and unloading, if the vehicle damage is also taken into consideration, the losses of the enterprises rise to a size that cannot be underestimated.
Forklifts are the main vehicles used for storage and stacking. Forklifts are briefly fork lift trucks. It is used for the purpose of lifting heavy loads, transporting them to desired places and stowing them in suitable places where manpower is not sufficient. The most commonly used general purpose forklifts balance the weight of the load with the weight of the vehicle.
Some of the forklifts must be loaded from the front. They have superior maneuverability. Some forklifts should be transported from the side. It is especially used for the transport of long dimensional loads. The size and strength of the forklifts are different depending on the place of use and the way of use. There are load carrying types up to 30 tons.
Within the scope of the Regulation on Health and Safety in the Use of Work Equipment issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in the year 2013, forklifts are classified as risky vehicles since they may pose hazards to the health and safety of employees during their use. In the annex of this regulation (Annex 3 Maintenance, Repair and Periodic Inspections), the forklifts are indicated in the stacker group and unless otherwise specified in other legal regulations, it is foreseen that regular inspections and inspections shall be carried out at least once a year. If no other value is specified in the relevant standards, the trucks must be able to lift and suspend at least the 1,25 floor of the declared load.
The standards to be considered in the inspection of the forklifts according to this regulation are: TS 10689, TS EN 1757-2, TS ISO 5057, TS 10201, ISO 3184, TS ISO 6055, TS ISO 1074 and FEM 4.004.
