The lift truck is a dangerous machinery. The most recent statistics have proven that more than 100 workers are killed in some form of lift truck mishap. 95,000 more workers are injured on the job on an annual basis too, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Most fatalities have been due to lift truck turnovers. Being crushed between the forklift and another surface is the next highest percentage of fatalities. The next highest cause of death is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every injury or death is quite gruesome and terrible due to the capability and immense weight of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All assessment and training needs to be trained by individuals who have the proper education, experience and knowledge to train powered industrial truck operators the correct skills and then to evaluate their competence afterwards. Several examples of a skilled trainer include a person who has a license, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with forklifts. A good candidate has plenty of practice and has shown the ability to assess and teach drivers of industrial trucks.
If the employer does not want to perform the training himself, there are numerous resources accessible for them to pick from. Like for example, they could hire 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 normally local trade and vocational schools which would be very glad to provide some great resources.
The World Wide Web is full of websites dedicated to the safety of lift trucks. There are also private companies that provide lift truck safety training services, such as videos and written programs. Most safety videos could either be leased or rented or bought. One essential thing to take into consideration is that simply by showing your employees a series of videos or a video about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and knowledge of the new drivers must be conveyed and evaluated by a specific method so as to make sure that the full training has been obtained.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a lift truck certificate will be given and they will legally be able to drive a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace very safe.