The lift truck is a dangerous machine. The most recent statistics have proven that over 100 employees are killed in some form of forklift accident. An additional 95,000 workers are injured on the job each and every year as well, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
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 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 frightening and terrible due to the ability and immense weight of these machinery.
Who Must Perform the Training?
All assessment and training needs to be taught by individuals who have the right education, experience and knowledge to train powered industrial truck drivers the right skills and then to evaluate their competence after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer include an individual who has a license, certified degree or professional status in their possession, or somebody who has extensive training, experience and knowledge with forklifts. A good candidate has a lot of experience and has demonstrated the capability to evaluate and train industrial truck operators.
There are resources accessible to select from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. For example, they can hire in local health and safety organizations, including the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local vocational and trade schools which will be really happy to offer some great resources.
There are numerous web sites on the Internet which are devoted to forklift safety. Private businesses can be found on-line that offer forklift safety training services, like written programs and videos. The majority of safety videos can either be purchased or rented or leased. One essential factor to consider is that simply by showing your workers a video or a series of videos about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and knowledge of the new drivers needs to be conveyed and assessed by a specific method so as to ensure the complete training has been obtained.
Once operators have passed their training requirements, they will receive a lift truck license that permits them to drive a forklift. Valid lift truck certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace very safe.