Why Forklift Accidents Keep Happening
Forklifts are almost always the first item on a warehouse safety audit. Multi-ton vehicles and people on foot share the same aisles, and that layout is the hazard.
The Recurring Pedestrian Collision Patterns
Why Beacons and Rear Cameras Aren't Enough
Strobes and beepers run all the time, so workers quickly tune them out. A rear camera only helps when the driver is looking at the screen. Both depend on people staying alert every minute of a shift. What you need is an alert that fires only when there is real risk.
Comparing the Technology Options
| Approach | Positioning accuracy | Installation cost | Burden on workers |
|----------|---------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| UWB tag-based RTLS | Roughly 10–30 cm | High (anchors required) | Workers wear tags |
| Radar / AI camera detection | Several meters around the truck | Medium (per vehicle) | None |
| Floor projection (blue spot) | No positioning | Low | None |
In practice most sites combine approaches, for example RTLS plus blue spots at intersections.
Zone-Based Speed Limits and Alert Design
Speed Limits by Zone
Once zones are defined in RTLS, they can be linked to the vehicle controller so speed is capped automatically. A typical setup might be 10 km/h in general aisles, 5 km/h at intersections and docks, and a stop alert when a truck enters a pedestrian-only zone. The actual figures should follow your site layout and internal safety rules.
Avoiding Alarm Fatigue
Set the alert radius too wide and the system fires hundreds of times a day, and workers start ignoring it again. To prevent that:
Using Data to Find Risk Early
Every proximity alert is a near-miss record. Plot them on a location heatmap and the hot spots show up.
If an intersection logs 40 alerts a week, for example, the same metric tells you whether the fix worked.
Integrating with WMS and Access Control
Rollout Path and POLYGLOTSOFT Support
Rather than equipping the whole site at once, a realistic path is Phase 1: pilot in the highest-risk zones (4–8 weeks) → Phase 2: tune alert thresholds and measure results → Phase 3: expand site-wide and integrate with WMS.
Drawing on its WMS and WCS experience, POLYGLOTSOFT designs the full stack: RTLS data collection, zone-based alert logic, near-miss heatmap dashboards, and integration with access and qualification systems. If you'd like to start by assessing the high-risk zones in your facility, get in touch with us.