By Adam R. YoungA. Scott HeckerPatrick D. JoyceBrent I. Clark, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Powered Industrial Trucks (forklifts) are the focus of a new OSHA Regional Emphasis Program (REP). The program covers Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—the federal-OSHA states in Region 8.

As we noted in a previous blog, Another Year In The Books – OSHA’s Top Ten Safety Violations for Fiscal Year 2022, forklifts came in at number 7! As we previously blogged, OSHA Region 3 issued a Regional Emphasis Program for Warehousing and Logistics on August 3, 2022 that included forklifts as one of the key inspection topics.

Following Region 3, on August 22, 2022, Region 8 issued a Regional Emphasis Program for inspections of employers utilizing forklifts. Region 8 started REP inspections on November 23, following a three-month education effort. This Region 8 REP reflected OSHA’s consistently high number of forklift inspections and forklift-related citations

OSHA uses national and regional emphasis programs to target aggressive enforcement efforts against specific industries and workplace hazards. Federal OSHA continues to shift enforcement towards warehousing, logistics, and e-commerce. In discussing its recent Region 3 emphasis program on warehousing and logistics, OSHA explained that “with the rapid growth of e-commerce, the warehousing industry has significantly expanded.” The further augmentation of OSHA’s forklifts REPs continue this enforcement re-orientation.

Nearly all OSHA regions have some form of REP in place with respect to forklift operations:


10/1/2019 – Region 1 – CPL-04-00-023G [CPL-04-00-023F] – Local Emphasis Program for Powered Industrial Trucks
8/3/2022 – Region 3 – 2022-01 (CPL 04) – Regional Emphasis Program (REP) for Warehousing Operations
10/1/2020 – Region 4 – CPL 21/07 (CPL 04) – Regional Emphasis Program (REP) for Powered Industrial Trucks
10/1/2018 – Region 5 – CPL 04-00 (LEP 002) – Emphasis Program for Powered Industrial Vehicles
10/1/2019 – Region 7 – CPL 2-15-01F [CPL 2-15-01E] – Regional Emphasis Program (REP) for Powered Industrial Trucks and Other Material or Personnel Handling Motorized Equipment in Construction, General Industry, and Maritime
8/22/2022 – Region 8 – CPL 2022-03 – Regional Emphasis Program for Powered Industrial Vehicles
10/1/2019 – Region 10 – 21-09 (CPL 04) – Local Emphasis Program for Powered Industrial Trucks

As always, for more information on this or any related Workplace Safety or Environmental topic, please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the Workplace Safety and Health (OSHA/MSHA) Team.