Forklift collision avoidance with UWB: how warning works

A UWB forklift pedestrian detection system measures the distance between a tag on the truck and a badge worn by each person, and warns both when they get too close; it is a warning and awareness aid, not a safety function that stops the truck.

Many products in this category are sold as “forklift collision avoidance”. In machine-safety standards, avoidance means the machine slows or stops by itself, which is engineered and certified differently. This guide explains how warning systems work, how they compare with other technologies and where the standards draw the line.

Why do forklift–pedestrian accidents happen?

Forklifts share aisles, docks and doorways with people. The mast and the load block the driver’s view, trucks reverse often, building noise masks an approaching truck, and rack ends hide pedestrians until the last moment. Most of the risk sits where routes cross.

The primary statistics agree on the scale:

In the EU in 2023, being struck by or colliding with an object in motion was the most common way fatal accidents at work happened: 23.8 % of cases, and 37.3 % in transportation and storage (Eurostat).
In Germany, accident insurers recorded 18,035 reportable accidents with industrial trucks in 2024, eight of them fatal (DGUV).
In Great Britain, being struck by a moving vehicle killed an average of 22 workers a year over the last five years, 17 % of all worker deaths (HSE).

The HSE’s first advice is to separate pedestrian and vehicle routes entirely where possible, then to mark and sign crossing points. Electronic warning belongs on top of that layout, not in place of it.

How does a UWB pedestrian warning system work?

Each truck carries a vehicle tag and each person wears a badge. The system then works in one of two ways, often both:

Peer-to-peer proximity. The truck’s tag and each badge measure the distance between them several times a second. When it drops below a threshold, the badge sounds, flashes or vibrates and the driver gets a light and a tone. No infrastructure is needed.
Positioning with base stations (UWB anchors). Base stations compute every tag’s position. That adds zones tied to the floor plan, such as crossings, doors, loading bays and no-go areas, and signal lights that switch on when a truck approaches a blind crossing.

Most systems use two zones around the truck: an outer warning zone and an inner alert zone. Their size can usually be set per truck type and area, larger at open crossings and smaller in narrow aisles where people work close to trucks all day.

Top view of the two zones around a truck. Radio ranging can often reach a person hidden by a rack end where a driver or camera has no view, although obstacles can make the distance read slightly long.

What can a warning system do, and what can it not do?

A well-run system can:

warn the driver and the pedestrian at the same time;
reach tagged people hidden by racking, corners or loads;
light up crossings and doors when a truck approaches;
show where alerts cluster, so that layouts and crossings can be fixed;
reuse the same badges for head counts and lone-worker alerts.

It cannot:

see people without a badge, or with a badge left in a locker or with a flat battery;
make anyone react: frequent false alerts teach people to ignore warnings;
replace barriers, segregated walkways, speed limits or training;
act as a protective device in the sense of machinery law.

Which safety standards apply to forklift collision warning?

Functional-safety standards rate a function on a specific machine, not a product on its own. ISO 13849-1 grades safety-related control functions in Performance Levels a to e, and IEC 62061 uses Safety Integrity Levels. The required level comes from the risk assessment or a machine-specific standard, and whoever designs the function on the machine, usually the truck manufacturer or an integrator, validates and declares it. For driverless trucks, ISO 3691-4 sets requirements for the vehicle’s own personnel detection and braking.

The EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which applies from 20 January 2027, lists “protective devices designed to detect the presence of persons” as safety components with their own conformity assessment. A badge that beeps is not one of them.

Level	What happens	Who designs and validates it	Functional-safety rating
Warning and awareness	Badge, cab unit or signal light warns people, who react	The employer, as part of the traffic plan	None; must not replace other measures
Speed limiting	A zone or proximity event makes the truck slow down through its control interface	Truck manufacturer or integrator	Set in their risk assessment, for example under ISO 13849-1
Protective stop	The machine stops before contact without anyone acting	Machine builder or integrator, with third-party assessment where required	Performance Level or SIL for the whole chain, sensor included

How does UWB compare with cameras, radar and other systems?

Technology	Detects	Badge needed	Works without a clear view	Main limits
UWB proximity, tag to tag	Tagged people and vehicles, with distance	Yes	Largely	Untagged people are invisible
UWB positioning with base stations	Positions of all tags, fixed zones	Yes	Largely, with enough base stations	Needs infrastructure and planning
Other radio proximity (RFID, magnetic field)	Tags inside a detection field	Yes	Mostly	Coarse distance, few zone options
Camera with person detection	Anyone in view	No	No	Blind behind loads and racks; affected by light and dirt
Radar or ultrasonic sensors	Any object nearby	No	No	Cannot tell a person from a pallet
Blue or red floor lights	Nothing; projects a warning	No	Not applicable	Relies on pedestrians noticing it

What about privacy and employee consultation?

Badges identify people, so a warning system processes personal data even if nobody ever looks at a map. In Finland, locating employees is technical monitoring that must go through the co-operation procedure, and the Data Protection Ombudsman states that location data should not, as a rule, be used to monitor working hours. In Germany, the works council has co-determination rights over technical devices that can monitor behaviour or performance. Across the EU, systematic monitoring of employees normally calls for a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) before go-live.

Good practice is to write down the safety purpose and keep to it, prefer a safety-only configuration with alerts and head counts but no stored movement tracks, map badges to roles rather than names where possible, keep retention short, and tell people exactly what is recorded. A voluntary pilot builds trust. This is general information, not legal advice; see how hosting and access control work on the cloud, on-premise and security page.

How Noccela does it

Noccela’s safety features are an alerting and awareness system. The ID Badge warns its wearer with an 84 dB buzzer and an RGB LED, the Signalling Flash marks crossings and danger zones, and peer-to-peer ranging between badges and vehicle tags gives proximity alerts even where no base stations are installed. Zone alerts, head counts and lone-worker messages use base stations, which cover up to 500 m² per base station and calibrate themselves once two have been measured. Accuracy is up to 10 cm, the update rate is configurable from 0.1 to 50 Hz, and capacity is 1,000 active tags at 1 Hz within radio range. Vehicle tags run typically several years, depending on utilisation and update rate; ID Badges are rechargeable. Noccela does not claim a Performance Level or SIL. Where a truck should slow down automatically, zone and proximity events are available through the APIs to the manufacturer or integrator who implements that function.

Where to go next

See how alerts, zones and head counts fit together on the workplace safety page and in the Konecranes Hyvinkää safety case. The devices are described on the ID Badge and Signalling Flash pages. To size a site for zone alerts, read planning a UWB RTLS deployment, or talk to us about a demo.

Frequently asked questions

Does a UWB pedestrian detection system stop the forklift?

Not by itself. It warns the driver and the pedestrians; slowing or stopping the truck automatically is a machine safety function that the truck manufacturer or an integrator designs and validates, for example under ISO 13849-1.

What is the difference between collision warning and collision avoidance?

Collision warning gives people time to react. Collision avoidance in the strict sense means the machine slows or stops without anyone acting, which makes it a safety function with a required Performance Level or Safety Integrity Level.

Does UWB detect people around corners and behind racking?

Often, yes. UWB ranging does not need a clear view, so a badge hidden by a rack end can still trigger an alert, although obstacles can make the measured distance slightly long. Size zones with a margin and test them in the real aisles.

What about visitors who do not wear a badge?

A tag-based system cannot see them. Issue visitor badges at reception, or combine UWB with a camera system that detects people without tags.

How do you avoid false alarms?

Set zone sizes per truck type and area, use smaller zones in narrow aisles, keep the driver's own badge from alarming in the cab, and review where alerts cluster during the pilot. Frequent nuisance alerts teach people to ignore warnings.

Is it legal to track forklift drivers and pedestrians for safety?

In the EU it can be, when it is necessary for a defined safety purpose, assessed in a data protection impact assessment and handled through employee consultation. In Finland, location data should not, as a rule, be used to monitor working hours.

Can the system show where near misses happen?

Yes. Alert events can be counted by place and time to show where trucks and people meet most often, which helps fix layouts and crossings. Agree with employees how such data may be used before you collect it.

Sources and further reading

Published 22 October 2026. Last reviewed 22 October 2026 by the Noccela engineering team.

Forklift pedestrian detection and collision warning with UWB