The forklift is a dangerous machine. The latest statistics have shown that more than 100 employees are killed in some type of lift truck mishap. 95,000 more workers are hurt on the job each year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
Most fatalities have been due to forklift turnovers. Being crushed between the forklift and another surface is the second highest percentage of fatalities. The next highest cause of death is being struck by the lift truck itself and last of all, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Every fatality or injury is quite terrible and gruesome due to the immense weight and capability of these machines.
Who Must Perform the Training?
All teaching and assessment for lift truck operation has to be trained by correctly trained instructors. These trainers must have the experience and knowledge to train potential operators the necessary skills to assess their competence after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer consist of a person who has a certificate, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or somebody who has extensive training, knowledge and experience with forklifts. A good candidate has lots of experience and has demonstrated the capability to train and evaluate industrial truck drivers.
If the employer does not wish to perform the training himself, there are many resources available for them to pick from. For example, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like for instance truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local vocational and trade schools that will be happy to offer some great resources.
There are lots of websites on the World Wide Web who are devoted to lift truck safety. Private businesses could be found online that provide lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. The majority of safety videos can either be leased or rented or bought. One important thing to take into account is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video on lift truck 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 specific method in order to make sure that the full training has been obtained.
When the driver has successfully passed all of the required training, a forklift license would be given and they would legally be able to drive a lift truck. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations to be able to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.