Yale feature emphasizes pedestrian safety

A new pedestrian detection event dashboard from Greenville, North Carolina-based Yale Lift Truck Technologies tracks when pedestrians come within approximately 3, 10 or 16 feet of a lift truck.

The information allows warehouses to better understand operator and pedestrian behavior as it relates to forklift safety and to take action to help reduce the risk of accidents, such as updating pedestrian boundaries and having coaching discussions, according to the equipment firm.

The dashboard is available at no additional cost to customers who already use the Yale Reliant pedestrian awareness camera and the advanced tier of the Yale Vision wireless verification telemetry solution, the company says.

“In an industry characterized by tight margins and unforgiving productivity expectations, operations cannot afford the financial and productivity impact of forklift-related accidents and injuries,” says Josh Eby, a global product manager with Yale. “The new dashboard captures pedestrian detection events to equip operations with critical information so they can take action that can help reduce the likelihood of such accidents.”

The Yale Reliant pedestrian awareness camera, launched early last year, can identify pedestrians at ranges of up to 16 feet within a 110-degree field of view and provides alerts to the lift truck operator when a pedestrian is detected.

Lift truck users can get the camera system with audible and visual alerts only, with a voice feature communicating pedestrian proximity and a light indicating which zone the pedestrian is in on the truck-mounted operator remote.

Also available are optional traction alerts that automatically and gradually slow down the lift truck, encouraging lift truck operators to take action to avoid the detected pedestrian by slowing down, steering away or both.

Yale Lift Truck Technologies is a division of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleveland-based Hyster-Yale Inc.