According to the forklift regulations, an employer is not required to repeat past training of a new operator. To be able to deal with certain workplace risks and specific workplace machines, training needs to be supplemented. Like for example, an operator doesn't have to be trained to be able to maneuver a lift truck on a ramp if that place of work does not contain a ramp; however, if the operator is really assigned to work someplace which has a ramp, it is essential that additional training must be offered.
Trainees are just allowed to use forklifts under direct supervision of just those who have the necessary knowledge and training to train and assess the trainees competence on the forklift. The trainees could just learn in a setting where such operation does not put in danger other workers or the trainee themselves.
It is essential to make a practical assessment in the workplace. If a third party training provider is chosen, it is better to have the training occur at the jobsite, using lift trucks at the workplace to be as precise as possible.
An operator is said to be certified when they have successfully passed the training with records maintained by the employer. The certification must include the name of the operator, the date of training, and the name of the individual performing the training and evaluation and lastly the assessment date. Even though some state OSHA bodies require the issue of an operator's certificate, the Federal OSHA does not need it.
Every three years, refresher training is required. It could also become mandatory to those operators who have shown some kind of inadequacy in safe lift truck use. Like for example, refresher training would be triggered by certain occurrences including: if there is a near miss or an accident, if a different kind of forklift is introduced to the workplace, if a supervisor observes operating unsafely and if an operator received a poor 3 year evaluation.
When unsafe operation of a forklift is noticed, it must be noticed that refresher training is not always the solution. For instance, if an operator is disobeying workplace safety rules willfully, it might be essential to implement disciplinary action. And last but not least, though training lift truck operators is a requirement, it is necessary to practice lift truck awareness training for other employees working near forklifts and pedestrians in order to make sure that everybody stays safe.