Alarm fatigue is the loss of attention and trust that sets in when operators or pedestrians receive so many alerts, many of them unnecessary, that they start ignoring, muting or bypassing them.
In forklift safety, alarm fatigue usually comes from proximity or detection systems set with zones that are too large, alerts that fire for people who are not at risk, such as workers behind a barrier or inside a racking bay, or alerts that cannot tell a truck passing a pedestrian from one approaching. Backup alarms on every truck in a busy building can create the same effect.
The signs are muted buzzers, tags left in lockers, tampered sensors and operators who no longer slow down when warned. Remedies include sizing zones to speed and layout, suppressing alerts where physical separation already exists, using directional or graded alerts, and reviewing alert logs with operators during the pilot. Fewer, more relevant alerts keep warnings meaningful. Alarm fatigue is a design and tuning problem, not only a training problem. See the forklift alarm fatigue guide.