Winter forklift safety and maintenance advice for 2025
As winter approaches, ensuring the safety and efficiency on your forklifts is crucial. All forklifts are subject to wear and tear over time, no matter what time of year it is. But, it’s not uncommon for this wear and tear to become more extreme with the onset of winter. As the weather worsens and daylight hours become shorter, it’s important that forklift operators and overseers are extra vigilant during the winter months.
Factors such as poor conditions and end-of-year deadlines can place additional unwanted strain on operators and their vehicles. This winter strain can easily result in accidents and breakdowns. Ensuring you’re clued up about the best ways to protect your equipment, staff and operating areas is the best way to make sure you’re staying as safe as possible during the colder seasons.
Luckily, the experts at Moorgate have you covered with some safety and maintenance tips that you can follow to lower the risks of accidents or breakdowns throughout winter. Read on for our guide to forklift safety tips for winter.
Here are some ways you can make sure your staff and vehicles are protected during the winter months:
Be prepared to tackle ice
Ice is one of the main concerns as the weather worsens in winter. Ice creates slippery conditions that are risky at the best of times, but when you add a heavy load into the equation, you could quite easily have an accident on your hands.
Where there is ice and snow, make sure you have grit and other de-icers to hand, so that you can prepare sites thoroughly before your forklift operators get to work. Driving on icy surfaces can potentially lead to a loss of control, so should always be avoided when possible.
Before driving a forklift in cold and icy conditions, check fuel and de-icer levels and make sure you’ve left the forklift plenty of time to warm up before operating. Always be aware the stopping distances can vasty increase when driving on wet or potentially icy surfaces, and traction control is a risk. Keep two hands firmly on the wheel at all times and be prepared to react if the vehicle skids.
Additional tips:
- Consider using winter-grade fuel: In extreme cases, winterised diesel is better suited to cold weather. It’s enhanced with additives that prevent gelling and help your trucks run more smoothly.
- Implement a winter checklist: Create a daily checklist for the colder months so operators can ensure all winter-specific safety measures are addressed before use.
Check your tyres
Continuous use of forklifts leads to wear and tear on types. That means tyre checks should always form part of your regular forklift maintenance routine, but it is something to be extra mindful of throughout the winter months.
Where there are forklifts that are used in unheated and outdoor spaces, give their tyres a thorough check before operating. You should be looking for:
- The amount of wear remaining
- Cracks or chunking, where pieces of rubber may fall off the tyre
- Flat spots where one part of the tyre is balder than the rest
- Inflation – tyres should not be over or under inflated
Always replace them your forklift’s tyres if they look worn. This is especially important in winter when slippery surfaces mean you need to ensure your tyres are completely uncompromised.
Additional considerations:
- Clean your tyres regularly: Snow, ice and salt can gather on a forklift’s tyres in winter, which could affect their performance and potentially cause damage. Regularly cleaning the tyres helps remove any debris and materials that could compromise your forklift’s traction and stability.
Keep your forklifts covered
If you can, keep your vehicle(s) covered during the winter months. Excessive ice and frost can cause mechanical problems, and you’re likely to find yourself waiting a while for your forks to heat up thoroughly before you can use them.
Ideally, you would keep your vehicles parked safely indoors where it’s warmer and drier. Many people have dedicated cabins where their forks are stored when not in use. Otherwise, parking them in sheltered spots or covering them with a suitable wrap is the best way to prepare for unexpected cold spells that could delay work.
Make sure you’re visible
This applies to your vehicles, your operators and anyone else on the shop or warehouse floor. With so few daylight hours and poor visibility even then, it’s important that everybody’s visible at all times. Rain, snow, fog and sleet can severely impact visibility, and with these conditions much more common during the winter months, it’s vital to be extra mindful of visibility.
Make sure the lights on your forklift are working correctly if you foresee visibility being an issue, and never operate your forklift if its lights aren’t working properly or at all. Make sure you keep your space floodlit and hand out plenty of high-vis clothing to any employees in the area. This way you can prevent any bumps or accidents due to low light, however minor they may be.
Enhanced visibility measures:
- Consider adding additional lighting for low-visibility conditions.
- Apply reflective tape to the body of the forklift, especially the forks, to boost visibility from all angles.
- Install fog lights on forklifts to improve visibility in foggy conditions.
- Regularly clean and defog windows and mirrors to ensure clear visibility for the operator.
Keep an eye on fluid levels
Forklift fluid level irregularities and leaks are a common cause of breakdowns. Winter weather can freeze fluids in any vehicle, so it’s a good idea to check your hydraulic fluid and coolant levels each day to avoid any faults.
Remember that gas and diesel forklifts use more fuel in cold temperatures due to hard starts, so they will likely need refuelling more often than usual.
Always allow warm-up time before operation in winter. Letting the system warm up ensures smooth functioning. Run the machine idle with no load for around a minute and operate each hydraulic function to help circulate the oil.
Expanded training
Giving your forklift operators a winter refresher training course is a great way to keep your operations running smoothly and safely in the winter months.
Winter driver training should cover more than just the basics. Here’s what should be included in winter forklift driver training to make sure your team is ready for whatever the cold weather throws their way:
- Cold start procedures: Make sure operators know how to properly warm up the forklift before use. This helps protect the engine and hydraulic systems from cold-weather damage.
- Recognising snow and ice hazards: Train your team to spot potential weather hazards, especially in shaded areas where ice might linger.
- Adjusting driving techniques: Slower speeds, earlier braking and gentler acceleration are all important when operating on potentially slippery surfaces. Make sure your drivers know how to adjust their driving style in winter.
- Winter load handling: Loads can behave differently in colder weather. Train your operators on how to safely handle potentially frozen or slippery loads.
- Emergency procedures: Make sure operators know what to do if the forklift begins to slide on ice. They should all be up-to-date with how to react in winter-specific emergency situations.
- Using winter attachments: If you’re using snow ploughs, sweepers or other winter forklift attachments, ensure your operators are trained on how to use them safely and effectively.
A well-trained operator is the best way to avoid winter-related accidents and breakdowns. By investing in comprehensive forklift driver training that teaches your operators about the best practices for winter driving, you protect both your people and equipment.
Looking for forklift training in Leeds? Take a look at our forklift driver training courses.
Winter-specific forklift attachments
Having the right tools can make all the difference in keeping your operations running smoothly in winter. Winter forklift attachments are designed to help you tackle the challenges of cold conditions. Here are some options to consider:
- Snow plough attachments: These help you clear large areas of snow, ideal for keeping your yard, loading bays and traffic areas clear and safe.
- Sweeper attachments: For lighter snow or leftover snow after ploughing, sweeper attachments help effectively clear light snow, slush and debris.
- Salt spreaders: Salt and sand spreader attachments prevent ice formulating and improve traction. They’re great for treating large areas quickly and efficiently.
If in doubt – don’t drive
The best cure is prevention. If you think the weather is too adverse, then don’t let your forklift operators take the risk. Using careful planning and ensuring you and your fellow employees are up to date with the best procedures for operating forklifts in cold weather is the best way to ensure you’re keeping safety at the forefront of your operations.
With high winds and heavy rain especially, lifting can become too dangerous. Aside from the risk to personnel, think about the time and money wasted if an accident were to result in damaged vehicles or stock, or worst still, injured staff.
Are your forklifts winter-ready? Talk to us today about our forklift winter services. Call us on 0113 393 2881 or email enquiries@moorgateltd.co.uk.
