The forklift is a dangerous machine. The newest data have shown that more than 100 employees are killed in some type of lift truck accident. An extra 95,000 workers are hurt on the job each and every year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Sadly, most of the fatalities are due to forklift turnovers. The next highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The next highest cause of death is being struck by the forklift itself and last of all, getting hit from falling things due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every death or injury is quite gruesome and terrible because of the immense weight and capability of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All teaching and evaluation for forklift operation has to be taught by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the necessary skills to evaluate their competency afterwards. Some examples of a skilled trainer include a person who has a license, professional standing or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with forklifts. A good candidate has a lot of practice and has shown the ability to assess and teach drivers of industrial trucks.
There are resources accessible to choose from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. For example, they can employ in local health and safety organizations, like for example the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local trade and vocational schools that would be really happy to provide some great resources.
The World Wide Web is full of web sites dedicated to the safety of lift trucks. There are also private companies that provide forklift safety training services, like videos and written programs. Nearly all safety videos could either be purchased or rented or leased. One vital thing to consider is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and skill of the new drivers must be conveyed and evaluated by a specific method in order to make sure that the complete training has been obtained.
Once operators have passed their training requirements, they would be given a forklift certificate that enables them to drive a lift truck. Valid lift truck certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace as safe as possible.