The lift truck is a dangerous machine. The latest statistics have shown that over 100 workers are killed in some form of lift truck mishap. 95,000 more workers are hurt on the job each and every year too, using these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
Sadly, most 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 next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the forklift itself and last but not least, getting hit from falling items due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each death or injury is quite gruesome and awful because of the immense weight and capability of these equipment.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All training and assessment for forklift operation needs to be trained by properly trained instructors. These trainers must have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the required skills to assess their competence after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise a person who has a license, specialized degree or professional standing in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, knowledge and experience utilizing lift trucks. A good candidate has plenty of experience and has shown the ability to teach and evaluate industrial truck operators.
There are resources accessible to choose from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. For instance, they can hire in local health and safety organizations, like for example truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools that would be happy to offer several great resources.
The World Wide Web is full of web sites committed to the safety of lift trucks. There are also private businesses that provide lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. Most safety videos could either be purchased or rented or leased. One essential thing to consider 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. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new operators has to be conveyed and assessed by a particular method in order to make certain that the complete training has been obtained.
When the operator has successfully passed all of the required training, a lift truck certificate will be issued and they will legally be able to drive a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everyone at the workplace very safe.