Lift trucks are very dangerous machines. Statistics by OSHA show that about 100 warehouse employees are killed each year in forklift accidents while they are using them. 95,000 more employees are injured on the job every year as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial equipment.
Sadly, nearly all of the fatalities are because of lift truck turnovers. The next highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The third highest cause of death 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. Each injury or fatality is quite awful and frightening because of the immense weight and capability of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All training and evaluation for forklift operation has to be taught by properly trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the necessary skills to assess their competence afterwards. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise an individual who has a license, professional standing or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with lift trucks. A good candidate has lots of experience and has shown the ability to teach and assess industrial truck drivers.
If the employer does not want to perform the training himself, there are many resources available for them to choose from. For example, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, including truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are often local vocational and trade schools that will be very glad to offer several great resources.
There are a lot of web sites on the World Wide Web who are committed to forklift safety. Private companies can be found online who provide forklift safety training services, like written programs and videos. Nearly all safety videos can either be leased or rented or bought. One vital thing to consider is that simply by showing your workers a video or a series of videos about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new drivers should be conveyed and evaluated by a particular method in order to make sure that the full training has been acquired.
Once drivers have passed their training requirements, they would receive a forklift license that enables them to drive a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations to be able to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.