The lift truck is a dangerous machine. The latest statistics have proven that more than 100 employees are killed in some type of forklift mishap. 95,000 more employees are hurt on the job every year too, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Nearly all fatalities have been due to lift truck turnovers. Being crushed between the lift truck and another surface is the second highest percentage of fatalities. The next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the forklift itself and last but not least, getting hit from falling objects because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Each injury or fatality is quite awful and frightening due to the ability and immense weight of these machines.
Who Must Conduct the Training?
All evaluation and teaching has to be trained by people who have the proper education, experience and knowledge to train powered industrial truck drivers the right skills and then to evaluate their competence after that. Some examples of a qualified trainer consist of a person who has a license, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with lift trucks. A good candidate has a lot of experience and has demonstrated the ability to teach and evaluate industrial truck operators.
If the employer does not want to perform the training himself, there are numerous resources available for them to choose from. Like for instance, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools that would be glad to provide several great resources.
There are a lot of websites on the World Wide Web which are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private businesses could be found on line which offer forklift safety training services, like videos and written programs. Most safety videos can either be rented or leased or purchased. One essential factor to take into consideration is that simply by showing your workers a video or a series of videos on forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and skill of the new drivers should be conveyed and evaluated by a specific way in order to ensure the full training has been acquired.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the required training, a forklift license will be given and they would legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everybody at the workplace very safe.