Overhead Guard & Tires

Overhead guards and tires are two important components of industrial equipment.

Overhead Guard

Cal/OSHA regulations recommend best practices for overhead guards, such as:

• Use an overhead guard as protection against falling objects, but not to withstand the impact of a falling capacity load.
• Wear a hard hat, when appropriate, for additional protection.
• Keep hands and feet within the forklift to avoid danger of falling loads.
• Use a load backrest extension behind the forks whenever necessary to minimize the possibility of the load or part of it falling rearward.
• Equip all high-lift rider trucks, order-picker trucks, and rough-terrain forklift trucks with an overhead guard manufactured in accordance with ANSI B56.1-1969, "Safety Standard for Low and High Lift Trucks," unless operating conditions do not permit.
• As part of the daily inspection of the forklift, check the overhead guard for broken welds, missing bolts, or other damage.

Tires

The type of tires on industrial equipment vary based on how the equipment is used and include options such as:

• Pneumatic, or one filled with air
• Solid
• Polyurethane

As part of the daily inspection of industrial equipment, it is important to check tire condition, looking for cuts and gouges, and to check the pressure for air-filled tires. Cal/OSHA GISO 3650 also requires the width of one tire on the powered industrial truck to be the minimum distance maintained from the edge by the truck while it is on any elevated dock, platform, freight car, or truck.

To learn more about Industrial Equipment visit our Cal/OSHA Industrial Equipment, Lift Trucks and Tractors Online Training web page.