Lift trucks are extremely dangerous machines. Data by OSHA show that roughly 100 warehouse employees are killed every year in lift truck accidents while they are using them. 95,000 more employees are hurt on the job on an annual basis as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Sadly, nearly all of the fatalities are because of forklift turnovers. The second highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the lift truck itself and last of all, getting hit from falling items because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Every fatality or injury is quite frightening and awful due to the ability and immense weight of these machines.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All teaching and evaluation for lift truck operation has to be taught by correctly trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the required skills to evaluate their competence after that. Some examples of a qualified trainer consist of a person who has a license, specialized degree or professional status in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, knowledge and experience utilizing forklifts. A good candidate has plenty of experience and has demonstrated the capability to teach and assess industrial truck drivers.
There are resources accessible to pick from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. For instance, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like for example truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are often local vocational and trade schools which will be really happy to offer several great resources.
There are many sites on the Internet which are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private companies could be found on line who provide forklift safety training services, like videos and written programs. Most safety videos can either be bought or leased or rented. One very vital factor to take into consideration is that simply by showing your employees a video or a series of videos about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and knowledge of the new drivers should be conveyed and assessed by a particular way so as to ensure the complete training has been acquired.
When the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a forklift license would be given and they will legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid forklift licenses are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everybody at the workplace very safe.