Lift trucks are really dangerous piece of machinery. Statistics by OSHA show that around 100 warehouse workers are killed each and every year in lift truck accidents while they are utilizing them. An extra 95,000 employees are hurt on the job on an annual basis as well, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Sadly, most of the fatalities are because of lift truck turnovers. The second highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The third highest cause of death is being struck by the forklift itself and last of all, getting hit from falling objects because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every injury or fatality is quite terrible and frightening because of the immense weight and ability of these equipment.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All training and assessment for forklift operation needs to be trained by correctly trained instructors. These trainers must have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the required skills to evaluate their competency after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise a person who has a license, professional standing or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with lift trucks. A good candidate has lots of practice and has shown the capability to teach and assess industrial truck operators.
There are resources available to select from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. Like for example, they can 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 often local vocational and trade schools which would be happy to provide some great resources.
There are a lot of websites on the Internet that are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private businesses can be found on line that offer forklift safety training services, such as videos and written programs. The majority of safety videos can either be rented or leased or bought. One very vital factor to consider is that simply by showing your workers a video or a series of videos on lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and skill of the new operators must be conveyed and evaluated by a specific way so as to make sure that the full training has been obtained.
Once the driver has successfully passed all of the required training, a lift truck license would be given and they would legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.