Lift trucks are extremely dangerous machines. Statistics by OSHA show that roughly 100 warehouse workers are killed each and every year in lift truck mishaps while they are using them. An extra 95,000 employees are injured on the job each and every year as well, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial equipment.
Nearly all fatalities have been because of forklift turnovers. Being crushed between the lift truck and another surface is the next highest percentage of fatalities. The next highest cause of death is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Every injury or fatality is quite gruesome and terrible because of the capability and immense weight of these equipment.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All teaching and evaluation for forklift operation needs to be trained by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers should have the knowledge and experience to teach potential operators the necessary skills to evaluate their competency afterwards. Some examples of a qualified trainer comprise a person who has a certificate, specialized degree or professional standing in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, knowledge and experience using lift trucks. A good candidate has plenty of experience and has demonstrated the ability to teach and evaluate industrial truck drivers.
There are resources accessible to pick from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. For example, they could employ in local health and safety organizations, like for instance the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools that will be glad to offer some great resources.
There are a lot of sites on the World Wide Web which are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private companies could be found online that offer forklift safety training services, such as written programs and videos. Nearly all safety videos could either be bought or leased or rented. One important factor to think about is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video about lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and skill of the new operators needs to be conveyed and assessed by a specific method in order to ensure the complete training has been acquired.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a lift truck license will be issued and they will legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid lift truck licenses are a requirement by organizations to be able to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.