Stand up high lift trucks have an open operator compartment designed to allow for easy egress from the truck in the event of an off dock, off trailer, or tip over accident. The open compartment design also protects the operator during non tip over collision accidents, provided the operator maintains themself within the compartment prior to impact. However, it has been suggested that an additional rear operator guard would better protect operators during non tip over collision accidents. This study aimed to investigate operator injury potential and kinematics during off dock and off-trailer accidents where the presence of a rear operator guard prevents the operator from exiting the truck and to evaluate the potential for an operator to restrain themself within the operator compartment of a stand up lift truck during an off dock or off trailer accident. An instrumented anthropomorphic test device (ATD) was subjected to a series of off dock accidents and a single off-trailer accident utilizing three different stand up lift trucks. The kinematics and loads experienced by the ATD were quantified and correlated to human injury potential. Additionally, this study examined the potential for a rear operator guard to impede operator egress during an off-dock or off-trailer accident. Testing demonstrated the potential for serious or greater injury to an operator subjected to an off dock or off-trailer accident. The authors conclude that a rear guard would negatively impact the overall safety of a stand up lift truck in most working environments.
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