There are actually a range of essential steps in lift truck training which pertain particularly to forklift safety. To begin with, it is very important to make certain that all employees have been correctly taught and certified to use the machine. This is a large piece of machine which we are talking about. You simply cannot take risks with it. Forklift training is vital business that should be taken seriously. If you choose to skip this process, extreme repercussions could eventually catch up with you. Allowing incorrectly taught and inexperienced people to drive lift trucks could cause very bad injuries, serious damage and even death.
Make it a standard company policy to always use seatbelts, all the time, no matter what. This is a simple subject that employees often become lax about, specially because the equipment is just traveling 10 miles an hour. Workers often think that they would not have any kind of issue and hence, begin not wearing them. This is where the danger can occur, as it is easy for an accident to take place which can have devastating consequences. This is not a car or a truck; the seatbelt is not essential to hold them in the cab if they run into something. In a forklift, the purpose is much more significant, even if the machinery travels at low speeds, in case of a tip-over, the seatbelt holds the driver in place secure in the operator's seat so they will not stumble out and be accidentally crushed beneath.
A well-organized reporting system needs to be implemented in the event of any mechanical issues or problems occurring. Workers need a logical way to communicate these situations so that those who are accountable for fixing them would. Workers should know enough about the machine that they understand at least the essentials of what can go wrong.
An operator has to be able to identify if there is a problem with the lift truck so as to rectify it before it becomes a big and possibly dangerous or expensive issue. Having a reliable reporting system in place is very important for workplaces that run on shift work. For instance, if one driver is having a problem and he leaves, and the secondary driver is unaware of the issue during his shift, then terrible situations can arise. Lift truck training is much more involved than just learning just how to utilize the machine.
It doesn't matter if an employee feels that the machinery is overturning, teach your employees to not hop out of a lift truck. The right thing to do in this dicey situation is to lean away from the turn while staying in the cab and holding on tightly.