Forklifts are extremely dangerous machines. Statistics by OSHA prove that approximately 100 warehouse employees are killed every year in lift truck mishaps while they are using them. An additional 95,000 workers are injured on the job every year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Unfortunately, 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 fatality is being struck by the lift truck itself and last of all, getting hit from falling items because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Every death or injury is quite frightening and terrible due to the capability and immense weight of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All training and evaluation for forklift operation needs to be taught by properly trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the required skills to assess their competence afterwards. Several examples of a qualified trainer consist of an individual who has a certificate, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, knowledge and experience utilizing forklifts. A good candidate has lots of experience and has demonstrated the ability to assess and teach industrial truck drivers.
If the employer does not wish to perform the training himself, there are many resources available for them to select from. Like for example, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like for example 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 glad to offer several great resources.
There are numerous web sites on the World Wide Web which are committed to lift truck safety. Private businesses could be found on line that offer forklift safety training services, such as videos and written programs. Nearly all safety videos can either be purchased or rented or leased. One essential factor to take into account 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. Succeeding training and skill of the new drivers must be conveyed and evaluated by a particular method so as to make sure that the full training has been acquired.
When the driver has successfully passed all of the required training, a lift truck license will be issued and they would legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid lift truck certificates are a requirement by organizations to be able to keep everybody at the workplace as safe as possible.