Warehouse operation scenarios have higher and higher demand for flexible low-noise electric pallet trucks in recent years, and standardizing daily operation details of such equipment has become a core link to reduce on-site safety risks. Turn-signal use and lane-change operation are two easily overlooked basic links in daily electric pallet truck operation, and non-standard operation habits may cause unnecessary vehicle collisions, cargo slipping and other avoidable accidents.

For the standard practice of turn-signal operation, all operators should form the mandatory habit of activating the corresponding turn signal at least 3 seconds before any steering action, no matter whether the surrounding lane seems empty or not. Before the daily on-duty operation, operators also need to check the normal working state of the turn signal group first, to ensure that the indicator light can clearly convey the driving intention to surrounding passing workers and other equipment operators. It is not allowed to turn off the turn signal immediately after turning the vehicle, keep the signal working state until the electric pallet truck completely enters the preset target driving direction, and then turn off the indicator steadily.

As for the standardized lane-change practice, operators need to finish the full range of visual inspection before starting the lane-change action, including checking the left and right rear-view mirrors, and confirming the blind area on both sides of the vehicle that the mirror cannot cover, to make sure there are no passing vehicles, walking staff or temporarily stacked obstacle goods in the target lane. After confirming the safety status, activate the corresponding turn signal in advance, keep the vehicle at a stable low speed, and merge into the target lane at a gentle and uniform angle. Operators are not allowed to change multiple lanes at one time, so as to avoid the instability of the vehicle’s center of gravity caused by excessive lateral force, which may lead to cargo slipping or side slip. After the whole lane-change action is completed, turn off the turn signal in time, to prevent the wrong indicator signal from misleading other personnel on site.

In daily operation training, the relevant management team should incorporate the above two operation details into the regular assessment items, to help all operators develop a stable standardized operation habit, and effectively improve the overall safety level of on-site material handling.