Linde Material Handling is increasing safety standards in the warehouse with the help of projected images of red warning triangles.
Indicating when an industrial truck is approaching, the company’s newly-developed TruckSpot technology, is expected to mitigate against accidents. Linde has appropriated the acknowledged road-traffic hazard warning symbol of a red triangle on white background for the industrial setting and included a forklift within the triangle.
Using LED technology, the system generates a 1.25m bright display of the symbol that is projected on to the floor 4m behind the vehicle. Clearly visible for pedestrians and other vehicle drivers in the vicinity, the image alerts to the reversing vehicle’s approach.
“We wanted to develop a clear and self-explanatory warning symbol,” said Michael Fuchs, product manager retrofit solutions at Linde Material Handling, “This had also been a clear customer request, as the system enormously increases the safety of everyone involved, especially in heavily frequented warehouse or production areas and at confusing junctions. The importance of such warning systems cannot be overestimated.”
Safety statistics
According to statistics from the German Employers’ Liability Insurance Association, BGHW, 65% of all accidents involving forklift trucks happen when they cross paths with people or obstacles.
Another advantage of the TruckSpot is that, as with the Linde BlueSpot, logistics staff are not distracted by annoying acoustic signals. “Our globally unique solution is also ideal for noisy working environments where employees could easily miss such audible alerts,” said Fuchs.
Thanks to the sophisticated lighting technology, TruckSpot does not have any dazzling effects. The solution is available ex-works but can also be easily retrofitted and, if required, it can even be combined with the Linde BlueSpot. “In this case, the BlueSpot warns when the truck moves forward and the TruckSpot comes into play during reversing,” explained Fuchs.
The TruckSpot is one of a range of many safety features which have become almost a standard in the industrial truck sector. Assistance systems such as the Linde Load Management, Safety Pilot and Dynamic Mast Control have also set new standards.
“Each of these innovations follows our holistic safety concept ‘Vision Zero – Safety in your world’, with which we have set ourselves the goal of reducing industrial accidents in goods handling to zero,” said Fuchs.
June 22, 2018
