Forklift capacity changes and manufacturer approval

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

MARCH 5, 1985
Honorable Gillespie V. Montgomery
Member, United States House of Representatives
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Congressman Montgomery:
Thank you for your letter of February 5 on behalf of your constituent, Mr. J. T. Monk.
Mr. Monk's assertion regarding the danger of changing the lifting capacity of mechanical material handling equipment is correct for the reasons that he has indicated. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a standard on powered industrial trucks; 29 CFR 1910.178. Paragraph (a)(4) of this section states:

"(4) Modifications and additions which affect capacity and safe operation shall not be performed by the customer or user without manufacturers prior written approval. Capacity, operation and maintenance instruction plates, tags, or decals shall be changed accordingly."

Any employer who allows his employees to utilize any modified equipment which is not approved by the equipment manufacturer is subject to citation and, more importantly, abatement of the hazard. Since the manufacturer has not approved the modification of its vehicles, an unsuspecting employer could be required to remove all of the additional counterweights and other modifications to the truck to be able to comply with the OSHA standard and abate the violation.
Essentially the same requirement as the OSHA standard cited above is contained in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B36.1 - 1983, Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks. If a truck is modified without the prior consent of the manufacturer, and the labels, tags or decals are not changed or removed, the truck is not in conformance with the consensus standard. A new fork lift truck usually has a label which attests to the fact that the truck complies with the ANSI standard. Failure to remove this label may constitute false advertising, and your constituent may wish to report the matter to the Federal Trade Commission.
We are only able to address considerations relating to OSHA's jurisdiction. It may be appropriate for your constituent to seek legal advice on the matter.
Please let us know if we may be of any additional help to your constituent.
Sincerely,
Barry J. White
Director, Directorate of Safety
Standards Programs

[Incoming correspondence reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]