If you work with forklifts, you've likely seen blue shining lights projecting a dot or an arrow on the ground. We usually call these "safety lights" because they are intended to make the area around a forklift safer. But how does the blue light on the forklift work? And why is the color blue and not red? We'll explain it to you in this blog!
Blue light on forklift; the importance
The blue lights on forklifts serve a clear purpose: to alert pedestrians and colleagues on the job. These lights contribute to a safer working environment when using forklifts by alerting people when the forklift is reversing. Since drivers of forklifts often have restricted visibility when reversing, they may inadvertently overlook people. Lighting is an effective way to make the presence of the forklift known to others in the workplace. This is of great importance as forklift accidents (fatalities) still occur.
Did you know... in the past 16 years, 2207 serious accidents involving forklifts occurred, 3% of which were fatal. This represents an average of 4 deaths per year. About 22.8% of these accidents resulted in (suspected) permanent injuries, affecting an average of 31 people per year. In 87% of forklift accidents, the victim was hospitalized and spent at least one night there. In 11% of cases, no hospitalization was required. The most common injuries resulting from these accidents are broken bones, but concussions, internal/surface injuries and lacerations are also common*.
*Storybuilder data 1998 - 2014
How do you install a safety light on a forklift?
We recommend mounting the blue LED light in a high, strategic location. In many cases, the roof of your forklift turns out to be a good place with sufficient mounting and connection possibilities. When mounting the safety light, make sure you adjust the blue projection correctly. The warning effect works best when the blue light reaches the ground clearly and does not fade. However, it is also important not to adjust the projection too close to the back of your forklift. Otherwise, the space becomes too narrow and the safety effect is reduced. So after connecting the blue forklift lamp, make sure this margin is correct.
We recommend an ideal projection distance of 2.5 meters for safety lights such as the FL series from our range, including blue dot and blue arrow forklift lights.
The function of the blue dot
The function of the blue dot (blue spot) on the forklift safety light is to delineate the movement and directional area of the forklift. Now I understand your thought: how can the lighting be sufficiently warning? Now, this is more effective than you think! In fact, forklifts do have sound signals to warn your colleagues of movements, but there is often a lot of noise in warehouses. As a result, sound signals, such as the beeping sound while reversing, go unnoticed. The background noise is then simply too loud. Therefore, an optical warning can be more effective.
Fact: In warehouses where it is noisy, warning sounds can drown out background noise. An optical warning in the form of LED light can therefore be more pleasant and safer to operate in some cases!
