Lift trucks are very dangerous machines. Data by OSHA prove that roughly 100 warehouse workers are killed each year in lift truck accidents while they are operating them. 95,000 more workers are injured on the job every year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial equipment.
Most fatalities have been due to forklift turnovers. Being crushed between the lift truck and another surface is the next highest percentage of fatalities. The third highest cause of fatality is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every injury or death is quite terrible and gruesome due to the ability and immense weight of these machines.
Who Should Conduct the Training?
All teaching and assessment for lift truck operation has to be trained by correctly trained instructors. These trainers should have the knowledge and experience to train potential operators the necessary skills to evaluate their competency afterwards. Several examples of a skilled trainer include a person who has a license, professional status or certified degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with lift trucks. A good candidate has a lot of experience and has demonstrated the ability to teach and assess drivers of industrial trucks.
There are resources available to select from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. Like for example, they can employ in local health and safety organizations, like the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools which would be glad to provide some great resources.
There are numerous web sites on the Internet which are dedicated to forklift safety. Private companies can be found on-line that offer forklift safety training services, like videos and written programs. Most safety videos can either be rented or leased or bought. One really essential factor to think about is that simply by showing your employees a video or a series of videos about lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new operators needs to be conveyed and assessed by a specific method so as to ensure the full training has been obtained.
When the operator has successfully passed all of the required training, a lift truck license will be given and they would legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid lift truck certificates are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everybody at the workplace really safe.