Counterbalance lift truck Training
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA require that anyone operating a counterbalanced lift truck be given lecture style or classroom training. They also require that a supervised driving program is finished as well as periodic refresher training. There is no required minimum time for the supervised driving or classroom training. Furthermore, there is no frequency mandated for the refresher training either.
Counterbalanced Forklifts
A counterbalanced forklift balances its cargo utilizing the truck's weight. The forks on a lift truck are in a fixed position; they go up and down and do not pivot. The forks run parallel to the forklift's body. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration require that people who will be utilizing counterbalanced forklifts on the job be correctly trained on the trucks while being in the kind of environment which they would be using them.
Classroom Training
Classroom training or lecture style training offers information about the truck which the driver will be driving. This training includes aspects such as weight and load capacity, height, how to charge or fuel the forklift. It includes how to gauge the time on the engine in addition to any forklift specific safety information like where to stand when walking around the truck. Either oral and/or written testing is part of the classroom training. There is no minimum time requirement for the training.
Supervised Driving
The operator of a lift truck would need to learn to operate the machinery while being supervised. The supervised driving needs to take place in an environment which resembles the current environment that the driver works in. This atmosphere must include the type of terrain she will be traveling on, have the same surrounding structures close by, and similar vehicle and pedestrian traffic close by also. There is no required minimum number of hours the driver needs to drive while being supervised.