Forklifts are extremely dangerous machines. Data by OSHA prove that approximately 100 warehouse employees are killed every year in forklift accidents while they are using them. 95,000 more workers are hurt on the job on an annual basis too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
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 lift truck and another surface. The third highest cause of death is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each injury or death is quite awful and gruesome due to the capability and immense weight of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All assessment and training needs to be trained by individuals who have the proper training, experience and knowledge to train powered industrial truck drivers the right skills and then to evaluate their competence afterwards. Some examples of a qualified trainer include a person who has a certificate, professional status or certified degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with lift trucks. A good candidate has a lot of practice and has shown the capability to assess and train industrial truck operators.
There are resources available to choose from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. Like for example, they can 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 happy to provide some great resources.
The World Wide Web is full of sites dedicated to the safety of forklifts. There are also private companies that provide lift truck safety training services, such as videos and written programs. Most safety videos could either be rented or leased or bought. One really essential thing to take into account is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video on forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and skill of the new operators has to be conveyed and evaluated by a particular way in order to make sure that the complete training has been obtained.
Once the driver has successfully passed all of the required training, a forklift certificate would be issued and they would legally be able to drive a forklift. Valid forklift licenses are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace really safe.