The forklift is a dangerous machine. The most recent statistics have proven that more than 100 workers are killed in some type of forklift mishap. An additional 95,000 workers are injured on the job on an annual basis too, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Sadly, most of the fatalities are because of forklift turnovers. The next highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The third highest cause of fatality is being struck by the forklift itself and lastly, getting hit from falling things due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each injury or death is quite frightening and awful due to the ability and immense weight of these machines.
Who Must Conduct the Training?
All training and evaluation for lift truck operation has to be taught by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers must have the knowledge and experience to teach potential operators the required skills to evaluate their competency afterwards. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise an individual who has a certificate, certified degree or professional status in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge utilizing forklifts. A good candidate has lots of practice and has shown the capability to evaluate and train operators of industrial trucks.
There are resources accessible to select from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. Like for example, they could employ 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 usually local trade and vocational schools that would be very glad to provide several great resources.
The World Wide Web is full of websites committed to the safety of forklifts. There are also private businesses which offer lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. Most safety videos could either be purchased or leased or rented. One very essential thing to take into consideration is that simply by showing your workers a video or a series of videos about lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and skill of the new drivers should be conveyed and evaluated by a specific way so as to ensure the complete training has been obtained.
When the operator has successfully passed all of the required training, a lift truck license will be given and they would legally be able to drive a lift truck. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace very safe.