Lift Truck Tips: Ergonomics in the details

We’ve all seen a lift truck dash fitted with a makeshift cup holder or a duct tape and cardboard pen organizer as lift truck operators find creative ways to improve their comfort and productivity. What might surprise those operators is that equipment manufacturers take those modifications very seriously, often by taking them to the drawing board during the design of new models. According to Scott Carlin, electric product planning and product support manager for Toyota Material Handling USA, the old focus on a lift truck’s mechanical design has been replaced by ergonomic considerations.

Creature comforts are not merely afterthoughts meant to put a veneer of convenience on a piece of industrial equipment, Carlin says. Instead, the design of virtually every component of a lift truck is rooted in a concern for the operator’s well-being.

“There are lots of little opportunities, but not one of them is small,” he says. “Combined, they can make a huge impact on the operator’s productivity. When I’m comfortable doing daily functions, I become more efficient, I do better work, and I will come back to work tomorrow.”

When ergonomic considerations first began creeping into lift truck design, manufacturers would often partner with local colleges and ergonomic specialists. That helps, Carlin says, but now it’s more about talking directly with operators, visiting their sites and learning as much as possible about their day-to-day concerns.

“It was not often a focal point when designing a piece of equipment, but we began to hear a lot from our customers about step height,” Carlin recalls. “If an operator is hopping on and off all day, as much as a hundred times per shift, and you shave 2 inches off the step height, it’s a big deal by the end of the day.”

But changing the step height is not as simple as welding on a lower rung. When engineers lower the platform, they’re lowering the operator, which impacts the platform, the uprights, cylinder placement and more. A straightforward complaint can therefore inform a complete redesign of a lift truck. Even a product’s engine and power supply are developed with ergonomic ramifications in mind. A breakdown is not just bad for productivity, it’s bad for morale. Similarly, an efficient lift truck that requires fewer battery changes means the operator doesn’t have to handle a battery as much.

“It all comes back to ergonomics and not asking as much from the operator,” he says. “It’s not just about product quality, it’s whether it makes the operator happy.”

After collecting and integrating a variety of requests, the ergonomic options for a lift truck are now plentiful: floating floors on standup products, swivel seats, full suspension seats, rear assist grips, adjustable and telescoping steering wheels, power steering, foot-operated parking brakes, air conditioning or heated cabs, seats and control handles, automatic fork levelers, fork lasers for accurate positioning, swiveling computer mounts, integrated or magnetized clipboards, USB plug-ins and more.

“These are all onesie-twosie things that operators say they definitely feel at the end of a shift,” Carlin says. “Tie them all together, and it can really change their day.”

Read more Lift Truck Tips.