No. OSHA's powered industrial truck standard, 29 CFR 1910.178, does not require pedestrian detection, proximity warning or automatic slowdown technology. It does require trained and evaluated operators, safe travel practices such as slowing down and sounding the horn where vision is obstructed, and trucks kept in safe condition. Separately, the General Duty Clause in Section 5 of the OSH Act requires employers to address recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. A detection system is one way an employer may choose to control forklift-pedestrian risk, alongside separation and training; it is not a legal substitute for either.
The plain-English summary is OSHA forklift regulations, and OSHA forklift pedestrian safety covers the agency’s separation guidance. OSHA’s pedestrian traffic eTool puts layout first: marked walkways, designated crossings, barriers and visibility at intersections.
Whether detection is the right control for a given site is a risk-assessment decision. If incident reviews show repeated struck-by exposure that existing controls have not reduced, adding an engineering layer is a reasonable response, and the hierarchy of controls explains where it sits. This is general information, not legal advice; the standard and the employer’s own assessment set the duty.