Are you beingpoisoned by your forklifts?

By Larry Reynolds Service/Parts Manager Crellin Handling Equipment, Inc.

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tions seal their loading docks and warehouse doors to the weather outside, be it cold or hot. If you are operating propanepowered forklifts indoors without proper fresh air ventilation, harmful levels of carbon monoxide (CO) may be found in the building which could cause mild to severe poisonlng.

Symptoms range from nausea, dizziness or headaches to brain or heart damage and even death.

CO poisoning is brought on by rhe incomplete burning of any material containing carbon, such as propane, gasoline, oil, natural gas, coal, or wood.

The most common source of exposure in the workplace is the internal combustion engine, although heating systems can also be a source. CO is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that can only be detected with special equipment which measures air quality, or by observing poisoning symptoms in humans.

Whether you are operating a new. used or reconditioned propane-powered forklift, the safest way to prevent CO threat is to tune the truck resularly, maintain it properly, and ha'ie the truck regularly tested for excessive

Simple maintenance items such as an improperly gapped spark plug can cause CO emission problems. A dirty air filter. as common as it may seem, can cause a problem due to lack of clean air mixing during engine combustion. An operator may adjust the carburetor to gel more performance from the forklift truck, but it can lead directly into a CO problem.

Lack of any service to the truck is worse than hiph hours of operation in leading to high emission levels. When proper servicing is complete, your forklift service dealer should check the entire system by measuring the CO content of the exhaust with a meter. The maximum allowable U.S. OSHA concentration for continuous CO exposure in any eighrhour period is l/2Vo, according to federal law. Since the only warning you may have is someone getting sick or complaining about headaches, you simply can't afford to ignore routine truck maintenance.

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L Labor, Occupational F Safety and Health t Administration. and 3 request Fact Sheet F- No. OSHA-87-

For more information on carbon monoxide poisoning and prevention, contact the I

Story at a Glance

Regular maintenance is vital in preventing carbon monoxide poisoning from propanepowered forklifts.